The Socialist Party of Michigan was the founding party of the newly formed Michigan Third Parties Coalition to fight for equal rights for all parties participating in Michigan’s elections. The MTPC now includes nearly all of Michigan’s minor parties and has developed a common program to fight for equal access to the ballot, media, and debates. Since sending out its press release this week, the MTPC has received widespread coverage in the print, radio, and television news. Read the MTPC press release below.
LANSING, MI â Five of Michiganâs political parties have joined together to establish the Michigan Third Parties Coalition (MTPC). Saturday afternoon, representatives of the Green, US Taxpayers, Reform, Socialist, and Libertarian Parties met at Finley’s American Grill, and united to challenge election laws that unfairly favor Democrats and Republicans. Spanning the political spectrum, theMichigan Third Parties Coalition formed to advocate equal rights, in Michigan elections, for all Political Parties. The MTPC contends that the present âtwo-partyâ system is not simply a product of voterâs choices or ideals. Rather, members say, it is an institutional arrangement maintained by major parties and special interests to prevent competition. âUnless you are a Republican or a Democrat, Michigan’s elections are neither free, nor fair. Michigan’s other political parties hope to change that, by working together to make it easier for all Michigan voters to vote for the candidate they choose” said Libertarian Party of Michigan Chair Bill Hall.
Michigan third party candidates say they face a media blackout. âThis lie of omission is perpetrated through circular logic: We’re shut out of the debates, nominally because of low polling numbers, then shut out of the polls because we weren’t in the debates, then shut out of the next debate because of low poll numbers . . . It’s difficult enough for voters to make intelligent decisions when you hear from all sides, let alone only two. Michigan’s citizens deserve better…'” said Douglas Campbell of the Green Party, who was arrested, beaten and jailed for attempting to participate in a candidates’ debate. Socialist Party of Michigan Chair Matt Erard further argued that, “Living in a democratic society means that voters have a right to make informed decisions. Voters are robbed of that right when third parties are excluded from the coverage and opportunities necessary to equally present their views to the voting public.”
Jon Ettinger of the Reform Party said, âOf all of the obstacles to third parties achieving fair and equal access in the Michigan electoral system the greatest are the present state election laws which prevent many third party candidates from getting the opportunity to participate in Michiganâs electoral process, at all.â Gerald Van Sickle of the US Taxpayers Party points out that, âUnder the present Michigan election law, it is impossible for a new party to nominate any candidates for the ballot without spending tens of thousands of dollars on a statewide ballot access drive; an often impossible task without the corporate financial backing (which the two major parties receive as âaccess contributions.â )â In each election, third parties with ballot access, face the prospect of losing their ballot access. Furthermore, the present voting system, which depends on primaries, compels people to vote for one of the major party candidates rather than their first choice, or else âwasteâ their vote.
While the member parties have diverse, and divergent, political perspectives, they have agreed on these core objectives:
Amending Michiganâs ballot access laws to give all state parties a chance to have their candidates listed on the ballot.
Allowing candidates affiliated with non-ballot qualified third parties to list a party label on the ballot once theyâ have qualified to appear on the ballot as independents. Michigan is among a minority of states that does not allow this.
Establishing Instant Run-Off Voting (IRV) in Michigan elections. IRV is a system that would allow voters to rank their preferences and drop the least popular candidates until one candidate has a majority. In addition to being a far more democratic system of voting than the âwinner-take- allâ system currently in place, IRV could replace primaries, and would eliminate the spoiler effect of voting for third party candidates.
Coverage of all candidates by the media. We jointly advocate the importance of including third party candidates in the media and raising the issue to the media and general public whenever third party candidates are systematically ignored in election coverage.
Fighting the exclusion of third party candidates from debates.
The MTPC developed a website at: www.michiganthirdpartiescoalition.org and are organizing a series of events and campaigns.