Please join us to rally for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) at the State House (Gervais Street side) from 2:00-4:00 on January 23rd.  

The SC Green Party is part of a coalition organized by Better Ballot SC to promote IRV.  We are supporting legislation that would allow cities to adopt IRV for municipal elections.

Instant runoff voting (also known as ranked choice voting) is a simple upgrade to the way that we vote. By ranking your candidates in order of preference we see great benefits, including:

• Saves time and money by eliminating costly runoffs
  • By ranking your candidates on the first trip to the polls, the traditional runoff is unnecessary
• Encourages competition
  • It eliminates vote splitting and the spoiler effect.
  • This not only allows more candidates to run, it eliminates the need to vote strategically or for the lesser of two evils.
• Promotes majority support
  • Not all races result in a runoff if a candidate does not get more than 50% of the vote. This leads to candidates who a majority of voters did not vote for.
  • With IRV/RCV, all winners have majority support
• Discourages Negative Campaigning
  • Candidates need to reach as many voters as possible and secure second place votes if not first. Therefore, candidates can’t insult their opponent while courting their voters at the same time
  • This forces candidates to focus on their positive vision for their constituents rather than how awful their opponents are

JOIN US on the State House steps on January 23rd.  RSVP Today: https://www.betterballotsc.org/irv_day_rally_123

Speakers:

Chris Saxman, former VA House Delegate

Christopher Himsl, retired Colonel 

Chase Oliver, former GA Senate Candidate and current Presidential Candidate 

Karl Brady, member of the Charleston City Council 

Erik Sickener, member of the Irmo Town Council 

Nicole Sanchez, emcee and President of Better Ballot SC

To learn more about instant runoff voting, visit: www.BetterBallotSC.org/Why_IRV 

2024 - A New Dawn in South Carolina

The political system may seem out of our control, but we believe in democracy. We believe in South Carolina and our future. Our state is filled with good, honest people of all sorts and in every place. It shows up whenever disaster strikes. It shows up when a neighbor takes someone to see a doctor. It's in our food banks, our volunteer organizations. It's there in you.

So, what is this "new dawn" about?

For almost twenty years the SCGP has run dozens of candidates across the state. We have elected two officials in our state. We have done flea markets, public meetings, social media, visits to welcoming houses of worship and more. All because we believe in a future of grassroots democracy, non-violence, ecological wisdom and social justice. These are the first four of our Ten Key Values.

Now we turn a page from reacting to what comes our way to planning well ahead and building teams able to accomplish shared goals. By preparing years ahead of coming elections we make success much more likely.

This does not mean we don't want you to run right now. We expect dozens of new volunteers and many will be ready to get out and campaign for you. Let us know now so we can start now to get you in office.

So, if you believe South Carolina has a bright future if the right policies and people are in place, join us. If you think our state has solid people, good natural resources and a sense of community, then join us. If you want to make South Carolina a state at the top of lists of accomplishments, join us. You can join us by just clicking here. The cost is $25 a year.

SCGP Nominating Process

Hard to imagine anything more boring than election laws. Here in South Carolina the legislature has set up a number of hurdles we must jump to get you on the ballot.

For example, to be on the ballot in November every local chapter needs to hold county conventions between March 31 and May 15th. Candidates must file paperwork to run with the state and party between noon March 16th and noon March 30th. Then the state party must hold our nominating convention before May 15th.

None of this should worry you. If you want to run, we are ready. All you really need to do is let us know before March 30th that you want to run as a Green Party nominee and we will make it happen! Literally dozens of candidates have run in the past twenty years, so we have practice.

But again, now is the time to begin planning even if you don't feel sure about the ins and outs. We will cover that for you. You must recruit workers, raise money, and plan how you intend to run your campaign, but we will be sure your name is there in November.

So, who runs this party?

We are small. That's just true. But we are a democratically run party where each member has an equal voice in decisions and any member can run for the steering committee.

The party members vote at our state convention on who will be on the steering committee. To run you need to let the steering committee know about a month before the convention so we can get out info to all the members.

The bottom line is that you can run this party just like anyone currently doing the job. If you want to serve on the steering committee, now is a great time to let us know.

ELECTION 2022 Shows Positive Gains for Greens in South Carolina

The South Carolina Green Party had five candidates on ballots across the state, including two state-wide races. We did darn well.

In a local race, Michael Stewart won re-election to his non-partisan seat on the Greenville County Soil & Water Conservation District. This is a non-partisan seat and Mike has consistently been winning.

We are proud of the effort our candidates put in to their campaigns and the Green Party will continue to find ways to support the people of South Carolina.