The Green Party is constantly reviewing our policy platforms as new information becomes available so that we can use the latest information in making an educated decision on the best way to govern.

The Illinois Green Party calls for a true government of, by and for the people. This is only possible through easy access to voting by all people; proportional representation rather than the present winner-take-all approach; accurate, untampered counting of every vote; and easy access of all people to the information they need to make informed decisions on who and what to vote for. The government should protect people and the planet from the excesses of moneyed interests.

Our elections should be clean, fair to all candidates, informative, accurate, and reflective of the public will, not the power of big money.

The Illinois Green Party supports clean-money elections and more media access for candidates. A ban on “soft- money” contributions is needed immediately. We favor campaign finance limits on donations in Illinois, and we favor limits on the transfer of funds from party leadership to candidates.

We also favor a ban on corporate campaign contributions.

We will fight to end “pay-for-play” in Illinois by banning campaign contributions from state contractors, their owners and officers — and barring the awarding of contracts to any company whose owners or officers had made such a contribution to an incumbent. Contracts should be awarded on the basis of merit, with consideration given to historically disadvantaged groups and under-served communities.

We must combat illegal job patronage in Illinois. All applicants for non-policy-making State jobs must be selected on the basis of objective criteria by an independent bureau.
We support a public financing option for public campaigns, such as that provided in House Bill 1324 of the 96th General Assembly, the Illinois Clean Elections Act.

We support the principle that the public airwaves belong to the people. We call for the reinstatement and enforcement of the Equal Time Provision of the Federal Communication Act, requiring broadcasters to carry debates including all ballot-qualified candidates and provide free time for all such candidates as a license requirement to use our public airwaves. We also support reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine.

The Illinois Green Party supports strict enforcement and extension of the Voting Rights Act. As the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections demonstrated, the intimidation and disenfranchisement of communities of color still goes on. We oppose voter “caging” and other dirty tricks used to disenfranchise legally qualified voters. The federal Justice Department must strengthen its vote enforcement division to swiftly investigate and prosecute those who act in this way.

The Illinois Green Party supports the abolition of the Electoral College and its replacement with a majority-rule election. The President should be elected by direct, popular vote and must receive a majority of the votes to take office. If no candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes cast, a runoff must be held.

We support greater empowerment of the people through direct democracy: Illinois voters should be able to place not only advisory referendum questions, but referenda and initiatives having the force of law, on the Illinois ballot without onerous petition-signature requirements. By the same process, they should have the right to place on the ballot, for decision by majority vote, the question of recalling elected public officials before their term of office has expired. Laws that restrict the number of local or county referenda that may be placed on the ballot should be repealed. We support preserving the right for citizen participation in annual town meetings.

The Illinois Green Party supports Instant Runoff Voting. To encourage more participation in the electoral process, voters must know that their vote can really count. By allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference (first choice, second choice, third choice, etc.), if no candidate gets a majority of first choices, a runoff count can be conducted without the need for a second election. Just as in a traditional second-election runoff, the majority choice can be determined, while also allowing voters the opportunity to vote for those candidates they like the most without worrying that in doing so their vote will help candidates they like least. Instant runoff voting also promotes positive campaigning and coalitions, since winners may need the second choices from opponents’ supporters.

The Illinois Green Party supports proportional representation. “Winner-take-all” is a very undemocratic way to choose representatives to government. When 49 percent of voters in a legislative district support a candidate, they should not get 0 percent representation. Most democracies in the world use some form of proportional representation to choose legislatures. Illinois should do the same – as it once did, until 1980. We support a return to three-member districts for the Illinois General Assembly, elected by cumulative voting. Cumulative voting allowed for the election of political minorities and made for a more diverse legislature.

The Illinois Green Party supports making voting easier and more reliable. Citizens should be able to register to vote up to and on voting day itself, with appropriate protections against voter fraud. To maximize voter participation, voting could be conducted by mail, or voting day could be a national holiday, or on the weekend. Voting precincts should be adequately staffed with sufficiently trained personnel and professional supervision.

In order to ensure that every vote is counted and counted accurately, we support a system of voting based on paper ballots, with random, independent audits of election tabulations – as called for in the Illinois Ballot Integrity Act, House Bill 1642.

We support reform of our prohibitive ballot access requirements in Illinois, to allow far easier access to candidates of smaller or newer political parties. We demand low-threshold, uniform and equal petition-signature requirements for all candidates seeking political office, regardless of political party.

The Illinois Green Party supports the creation of independent and non-partisan election administration bodies. Electoral commissions at all levels of government should be free of control by any political party.

The Illinois Green Party supports statehood for the District of Columbia. We support the right of United States territories — including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and the Virgin Islands — to be allowed to choose either statehood (with full voting rights), or independence, or to maintain their current status.

The Illinois Green Party also supports other electoral reforms that advance democracy and a more representative government.

Youth in America are allowed to work at age 16 and are eligible for the draft at 18. Since laws affect the workplace and since youth should have the opportunity to elect or remove public officials who support policies that could send them to war, the Illinois Green Party supports the right of citizens of the United States who are sixteen and over the right to vote, provided that citizens of age 16 or 17 first complete an approved high-school level curriculum on civics and government.

The Illinois Green Party believes that if these reforms are made, Illinois and America will be a stronger and healthier democratic republic.