Tell Minnesota Secretary of State, the Honorable Steve Simon: Place Ajamu Baraka on the Minnesota General Election Ballot as the Green Party Vice Presidential Candidate

Decision Makers:

Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State; stevesimonmn@gmail.com

Office of the Secretary of State - Elections and Open Appointments; secretary.state@state.mn.us

Reasons to Sign:

It is commonly understood, given the extraordinary constraints of the minor party petitioning process, that place-holders for VP are used on minor party petitions in Minnesota

These place-holders are just that – names put in place until the eventual nominee is chosen during the convention process

In the vast majority of other states, replacing the VP stand-in is either standard procedure or not necessary

Ajamu Baraka was confirmed as Dr. Jill Stein’s running mate on August 6th – in the midst of Minnesota’s minor party petitioning process which runs from May 17 th to August 23 rd , 2016

to August 23 , 2016 6,700 signatures were submitted in Minnesota on August 15 th , 2016 – far surpassing the required number of 2,000

, 2016 – far surpassing the required number of 2,000 Honor the will of the voters in the state of Minnesota who overwhelmingly supported Dr. Jill Stein’s petition drive - and who overwhelmingly respect her good judgement

Dr. Jill Stein’s choice of Ajamu Baraka is an outstanding one: he is an internationally recognized human rights activist, organizer and geo-political analyst; founding Executive Director of the US Human Rights Network (until 2011); coordinator of the U.S. based “Black Left Unity Network’s” Committee on International Affairs; Baraka has served on the boards of various national and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International (USA) and the National Center for Human Rights Education; he has also served on the boards of the Center for Constitutional Rights; Africa Action; Latin American Caribbean Community Center; Diaspora Afrique; and the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights

Letter/Email to be Sent to the Decision Maker each time the Petition is signed:

Dear Mr. Secretary;

I just signed a petition calling for your office to allow the Green Party to place Ajamu Baraka on the Minnesota ballot in November as Dr. Jill Stein’s running mate.

For over two months now, Minnesota Green Party volunteers have been gathering signatures while standing on street corners, tabling at festivals, waiting outside of food co-ops and standing outside of library entrances. They have spent many hours approaching passers-by – asking them if they would consider adding their names in support of placing Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party on the ballot. It was with great excitement that 6,700 signatures were handed in to your office on August 15th – far surpassing the required 2,000!

But because the State of Minnesota requires minor parties to put both presidential and vice presidential candidates’ names on the petition before gathering signatures, naming a stand-in for vice president was a necessity. This meant that before May 17th when petitioning could start – and well before August 1st when the Green Party’s nominating process was just beginning – a stand-in name was submitted for petitioning purposes.

I believe the current inability to substitute the Green Party’s endorsed candidate, Ajamu Baraka, for the stand-in is unfair in light of the arduous ballot access process and impossible time table. It is my sincere hope that you will work with the Green Party of Minnesota to allow their official endorsed candidate, Ajamu Baraka, to take his rightful place on November’s Minnesota general election ballot.