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08/31/2005: "Freeholder Ludwig Will Be On Ballot"

Steve Ludwig

Green Party Candidate for District 3 County Commissioner, Steve Ludwig, will be on the General Election Ballot this year. Ludwig and his supporters collected a 166 valid signatures in one week at the Green Party's "roving convention" on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Islands. The Republicans do not have a candidate in the election, so Ludwig will face the winner of the September 20 Democratic Primary.

The Revised Code of Washington State requires that minor political parties must hold conventions to nominate candidates; and, for local offices, these conventions must show attendance by at least 100 voters registered in the jurisdiction in which the election is to be held.

The Green Party also collected 681 valid signatures (as verified by the elections' supervisor) on a petition to waive the filing fee for Ludwig. State law allows a waiver of the filing fee ($661 for SJC commissioner filings) if at least one petition signature for each dollar of the filing fee is obtained. This effort represents grass roots democracy at its best, and is noticeably at odds with the usual procedure by the major parties, which always pay the filing fees for their candidates.

The county's Greens hope to set an example of frugal campaigning based on important issues rather than the usual wasteful blitz of mail and advertising. In the 2004 Commissioner races, the two major parties spent well over $100,000 to capture just two seats.

Hundreds of Green Party candidates are now serving as elected officials in counties and cities across the United States, as voters seek a principled alternative to the monopoly on political activity held by the Republican/Democrat coalition.