Green Candidacy
Seeking Public Office In 2022 Contact the MGP at [email protected]
The Maryland Green Party is seeking candidates for the 2021-2022 election cycle. Running as a Green Party candidate is an opportunity to advance green values and solutions and to give voters an opportunity to have a choice outside of the two-party system.
The Maryland Green Party encourages candidates to build their own campaign strategy and their own team but we will connect you with volunteers in your area and provide some campaign training opportunities.
Greens have a variety of reasons to run for office. Some run to win, others run to raise important issues, some run to organize local parties, and others run simply to provide voters a choice. Whatever your reason for running for office it is an exciting opportunity to get to meet your neighbors, connect with the issues in your community, and advocate for the change you would like to see.
Our party is built on grassroots volunteers like you who use elections to advance our values and solutions.
Maryland Green Party: 2021–2022 Candidate Nomination Procedures
The Maryland Green Party encourages interested candidates to contact the Electoral Committee by the earliest possible date by emailing [email protected]gmail.com
We also ask people to fill out the following survey
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczBULh9AlODPEsMfThw8-_H98f6R4OJ7CccRgCWhDLTGmimw/viewform?usp=sf_link
Candidates are also encouraged to familiarize themselves with the 10 Key Values (http://www.gp.org/ten_key_values_2016)
Section: a.) Local/County Level/Municipal Offices
1a.) Locals. The Maryland Green Party (MGP) is organized as a confederation of “Locals.” The Local coordinates Green Party electoral activity for its jurisdiction. The following counties have Locals recognized by the MGP: Allegany County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and Washington County. (Please see www.mdgreens.org for more information).
2a.) Seek the endorsement of the Local. All interested candidates must seek the endorsement/nomination of the Local that covers the jurisdiction of the office for which they seek to run. Candidates must abide by the rules and processes that the Local establishes for its endorsement/nomination.
3a.) The MGP C.C. The Maryland Green Party Coordinating Council (the C.C.) is the body that makes official decisions for the Maryland Green Party as a whole, subject to review at the Annual Assembly. It consists of representatives from each Local and yearly-elected officers. The C.C. advises that each Local utilize a fair and open process for making its endorsements/nominations.
4a.) Approval/Communication with SBE. The C.C. will review and approve all of the candidates endorsed or nominated by each local. Once a local communicates its endorsements/nominations to the C.C., the C.C. will endeavor to render its approval expeditiously, at the earliest possible date. The C.C. will communicate, officially, to the MD State Board of Elections, the names of all of the approved, and therefore, “officially nominated” MGP candidates by the State Board of Election deadline for a Certificate of Candidacy, August 1, 2022. This ensures that each candidate's name appears on the November ballot. *Only under extenuating circumstances will the MGP C.C. consider rejecting the decision of a Local.
5a.) Jurisdictions without a Local. For candidates who wish to run in a jurisdiction that does not have a recognized Local, the MGP Electoral Committee will review the candidate's qualifications and commitment to Green values, and endeavor to ascertain the candidate's support among Green Party members in that area. This may include providing the candidate with a list of Greens in that district and asking the candidate to petition the Greens for their support. Alternatively, the candidate may register new Green Party members who form a Local that the C.C. comes to recognize. Ultimately, when there is not a recognized Local, the C.C. will render a decision on the candidate and will act upon the advice and consent of the Electoral Committee.
*Extenuating Circumstances – The MGP C.C. may consider rejecting or overturning a Local's nomination decision only under the following circumstances:
- Flaws in how the Local handled the process of nomination that rendered it grossly unfair, inconclusive or illegitimate.
- New information about a candidate, of which the Local was unaware, that calls into serious question the candidate's integrity, commitment to Green values, or fitness for public office.
- Evidence that the candidate engaged in illicit or unethical activity, or made a serious violation of Green Party's principles with regard to campaign finance.
Section: b.) Statewide and Federal Offices
1b.) The races for statewide office are: Governor/Lieutenant Governor; Attorney General; Comptroller;
2b)The Federal Offices are : U.S. Senator and Member of Congress (8 )
3b.) Candidates for these statewide offices must submit an official MGP application to the Electoral Committee by this date March 15th, 2022. Concurrently the candidate must meet the MD State Board of Elections requirements for filing to run. The Electoral Committee will verify that each candidate has been recognized by the Board of Elections. At that point the candidate will be considered “recognized.”
4b.) Candidates for Statewide office, or the United States Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) shall be nominated via a primary in which all registered Greens in the jurisdiction are eligible to vote by preference vote. The primary should occur during the month of April in the year that the General Election will occur. The primary can be conducted by in-person, mail or electronic balloting
5b.) An officially-designated MGP Primary Committee will conduct the Primary.. The Primary Committee will credential each ballot, verifying that it is attributed to a valid MGP member. At a designated time and with full transparency, the Primary Committee will open the ballots tabulate the votes.
6b.) The MGP will utilize Ranked-Choice Voting, also known as Instant Run-Off Voting (IRV) for its primary.
7b.) Barring any serious errors with the primary process, the winner of the MGP Primary shall be the nominated candidate and shall appear on the November ballot. If legitimate disputes over the process arise, the MGP C.C. shall render the final decision on the outcome.
8b) If a position that is nominated via the primary process outlined in this is section is vacant and a candidate seeks to fill that vacancy prior to the July 5th 2022 deadline for filing a declaration of intent with the state of Maryland the Coordinating Council may by a two-thirds vote convene a special two week primary for the eligible voters in that region that will occur during July of 2022.
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