[Pnp-wg] More issues relating to "proportionality".

[Gary]

It seems fair to have nominations from the floor only if NOTA is the ultimate winner, which, as has been stated, seems to free up the delegates from any further binding.

GAry
FL
P.S. It's lovely here in England. Saw a huge Vote Green sign yesterday. Elections are in May, and the folks here love Blair for the same reason Americans love Bush, which is NOT.


---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Owen Broadhurst <owen.broadhurst@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Owen Broadhurst <owen.broadhurst@gmail.com>
Date:  Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:23:49 -0400

>In a convention that does NOT have eliminations, and DOES allow for
>the nomination of ANYONE at any time, there IS no NOTA problem- for
>these circumstances would allow the NOTA delegate to nominate and vote
>for someone who was not listed in his state's primary.
>
>Owen Broadhurst
>
>On 4/21/05, Steve Kramer <scooter@guisarme.net> wrote:
>> Steve is essentially right here.  There are, as I count it, four ways to
>> vote other than voting specifically for one of the listed candidates on
>> the ballot:
>> 
>> * "uncommitted", which means that you want one of the candidates listed,
>> but you aren't sure which or you don't have a strong preference;
>> 
>> * "NOTA", which indicates that you want a candidate, but not one of the
>> ones listed;
>> 
>> * a write-in, which is a specific vote for someone who isn't listed; or
>> 
>> * "no candidate", meaning that you do not want the Green Party to field a
>> candidate for the position at all.
>> 
>> In addition there was also an endorsement option in 2004, which my sense
>> is we are not eager to retain.
>> 
>> It is up to us to determine which of these we wish to have.  Obviously
>> there is some overlap in what some of the choices mean, and we should be
>> aware of those when making the decision.
>> 
>> Steve K.
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, 21 Apr 2005, Steve Greenfield wrote:
>> 
>> > I realize this may be my private opinion, since I haven't researched its
>> > history, but NOTA as I understand it connotes a second-choice by the voter
>> > to unbind the delegate for round 2 should NOTA prevail in Round 1. The voter
>> > is essentially saying, "I want a candidate, just not any of the candidates
>> > on this list." It stands to reason, then, that the delegates chosen through
>> > NOTA votes remain free to vote for someone, as long as it's someone else, a
>> > draft candidate.
>> >
>> > NOTA is therefore not the same as "no candidate" which means that the voter
>> > is stating they'd rather we sit the election out as far as petitioning
>> > nationwide for our own ballot line candidate. As things were arranged last
>> > year, that left the option of "endorsing" a candidate who is on someone
>> > else's ballot line, but I'm pretty sure that's something we don't want to
>> > preserve unless the surveyed Green voters in each state have the options to
>> > endorse or abstain on their survey and agree to endorsement as their second
>> > choice. That way we really know whether "No Candidate" Greens want to
>> > abstain completely, or if they want the organization to take an electoral
>> > role outside of balloting.
>> >
>> > But I'm not really comfortable with this, since "No Candidate" has the
>> > result of costing some states their ballot lines or denying them the option
>> > to gain them if they currently don't have them. This seems to grant the
>> > convention the right to make ballot access for local and state candidates
>> > more difficult for those states, and that's probably not our cumulative
>> > right to decide for individual states, especially when our own affiliation
>> > rules require that states endeavor to make progress towards achieving ballot
>> > status. It's weird.
>> >
>> > I stated several weeks ago that I believe the Green Party needs to produce a
>> > candidate at its convention. I still believe that. I'd rather we set up a
>> > "draft from the floor" last-chance mechanism than a "no candidate" option as
>> > far as what to do with NOTA's and/or uncommitteds.
>> >
>> > Steve Greenfield
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