By COLIN M. STEWART
By COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
The Green Party of Hawaii announced that it has been certified to be included on Hawaii partisan election ballots.
As a result of obtaining the required number of petition signatures for the third year in a row, the party will automatically be included in all partisan races through 2020. State law requires political parties, other than the Democrat and Republican parties, to petition the state to appear on the ballot. A total of 691 signatures must be collected to qualify.
As of Saturday evening, a total of 21 states had qualified the Green Party for ballot access through the 2012 election cycle, according to media coordinator Scott McLarty.
The Green Party’s Hawaii petition was an important part of the state’s political process, said party Co-Chairman Nikhilananda.
“People deserve to have as many choices as possible,” he said. “Voters are often limited to one of only two individuals, with at times little difference between the two candidates. Thus it becomes even more important for the GPH to be on the ballot, allowing voters a clear and substantive choice.”
The party will continue to focus on its core values this election cycle, Nikhilananda said, including environmental issues, social justice, non-violence, community-based economics, personal responsibility, and diversity, among others.
The co-chairman added that state legislators have so far proven unwilling to address changing state law so that the Green Party, and others, aren’t required to go to great lengths to get on the ballot. The Green Party has, however, managed to remain on the ballot for every election since 1992, he said.
The Big Isle has figured prominently in the history of the Green Party. The party first qualified for Hawaii ballots in May 1992, and seven months later Keiko Bonk was elected to a seat on the Hawaii County Council. She was the first Green Party member to be elected in a partisan race in the United States, making her the highest ranking elected party official in the nation at the time. She was re-elected in 1994, but stepped down to make unsuccessful bids for mayor in 1996 and 2000.
Bonk was followed by Julie Jacobson, who was elected to Bonk’s seat on the council in 1998, and later held the position in the 2000 election. Her husband, Bob Jacobson, then went on to win three back-to-back terms in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Bob Jacobson lost a re-election bid in 2008, and became the last Green Party member to hold elected office in the state.
“The Big Island has been our most successful county in the state,” Nikhilananda said. “We’ve had more candidates on the Big Island than all the other counties combined.”
Hawaii Island will play host to the Green Party’s annual State Convention on May 19, according to a press release. It will begin at 1 p.m. at Hawaiian Acres Community Center.
State party officers, two delegates and two alternates to the Green Party of the United States National Committee, plus four delegates and four alternates to the GPUS Presidential National Nominating Convention, will be elected.
This year’s national convention will be held in Baltimore, Md., from July 12-15.
For more information about the Green Party of Hawaii, visit greenpartyofhawaii.com, send an email to nikhilananda@hawaiiantel.net, or call (808) 572-8787.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.