Jill Stein’s crime? “attempting to bring food and Halloween candy to protesters”

Kudos to Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate. I would vote for her if Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) were available. You can be certain that Romney will approve Keystone on Day One for the benefit of his oil backers and not to the nation’s benefit at all. mjh

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein charged with trespassing in Keystone XL protest – The Washington Post

By Steven Mufson, Oct 31, 2012 04:24 PM EDT

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was arrested Wednesday morning in east Texas while attempting to bring food and Halloween candy to protesters camping out in trees to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, according to anti-pipeline activists.

Stein was taken to the Wood County jail and charged with criminal trespassing, a class B misdemeanor ….

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein charged with trespassing in Keystone XL protest – The Washington Post

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) means real choices

ABQJournal Online » Instant Runoff Voting Could Run Off ‘Spoilers’ By John B. Anderson / Independent Candidate for President in 1980 on Thu, Nov 1, 2012

It’s time for major party leaders to stop playing chicken with voters and instead to uphold majority rule with a straightforward reform. Instant runoff voting (IRV) would allow Americans to achieve the basic goal of representative democracy – electing the candidate with the most support – while ending the concept of “spoiler.”

With IRV, voters get to rank candidates in order of choice: first, second and third. A candidate can win with a majority of first choices. If there’s no majority winner, the last place candidate is eliminated, and that candidate’s backers have their votes added to the totals of their compromise choice. This process continues until there’s a majority winner.

IRV is a proven voting method. It’s used to elect Ireland’s president, London’s mayor and Australia’s House of Representatives. American cities using IRV include Oakland, Calif.; San Francisco; Minneapolis; St. Paul, Minn.; and Portland, Maine. New voting machines are making IRV all the easier to implement.

ABQJournal Online » Instant Runoff Voting Could Run Off ‘Spoilers’

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams