We need your help to keep fighting for independent politics!

Dear friends,

Thank you for all you’ve done to build our movement for people, planet and peace over profit!  Our work together has set the progressive agenda on issue after issue, from an emergency Green New Deal and Medicare for All to free public higher education, democracy reforms like Ranked-Choice Voting and much more.

Now, in the face of accelerating climate collapse, crushing inequality, endless war and the epic failure of public health – we need independent politics more than ever to advance these transformative solutions our lives depend on. 

Right now I’m fighting a battle that may well determine whether alternative parties and independents will be able to gain access to the ballot – an essential part of the struggle in elections to come.

Currently, we are fighting a decision by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that strikes another blow against open, fair elections by seriously limiting our ability to use federal public matching funds to gain ballot access. Specifically, the FEC is demanding that our 2016 campaign repay over $175,000 in funds we earned under the federal matching funds program over five years ago.

The FEC’s demand grows out of their refusal, after the fact, to recognize our use of matching funds to complete ballot drives during the 2016 primary campaign. Since our 2016 campaign account is all but closed, the FEC is holding me, as the candidate, personally liable for repaying this massive, unjust bill from my personal funds.

Will you contribute to help me fight the FEC’s decision and stand up for the future of independent politics?

If the FEC ruling is allowed to stand, grassroots candidates running independently of the big money corporate parties will simply run out of money before overcoming onerous ballot access hurdles around the country.

To make matters worse, the precedent of receiving a ruinous bill from the government years after the election would be an obvious deterrent to future grassroots candidates who rely on matching funds to challenge power without selling out to corporate political machines. In many states this would also make it far more difficult to run in local “down-ballot” races where Greens and other independents have had the most success. 

After fighting for over a year within the FEC bureaucracy, we and our legal team are eager to challenge this injustice in court. But to move forward, we must urgently raise at least $30,000 to cover the latest round of legal costs and our barebones operating expenses. And, in case justice does not prevail, we must prepare to pay down the liabilities.

Incredibly, the FEC’s rules prohibit me from contributing critically needed funds to my own defense because it would exceed the maximum I’m allowed to donate to my own campaign! That means I am essentially dependent on your generosity for defending myself and the matching funds program.

To make this fight winnable, please donate via this site or make out a check to “Jill Stein for President (2016)”. (See below for important details on how to donate by check).  Every donation, no matter the size, is greatly appreciated! 

Polls show unprecedented hunger for a new party, disgust with the political establishment, and strong support for our visionary proposals. That’s why this battle for public funding is so critical – to protect our right to a politics that’s independent of the corporate money machine and to advance the solutions we so urgently need.

Thank you so much for your support at this critical moment, as the future of humanity and the planet are truly in our hands!

All my best, 

Jill Stein, Green Party Presidential nominee 2012, 2016

PS. Your contribution will help us contest this case while continuing to fight on multiple fronts. Here are some recent examples of the Green perspective I continue to bring to the public discourse on critical issues: discussing the emergency Green New Deal with Global Greens, the imperative for independent politics with Briahna Joy Gray and Richard Wolff, and the movement to free Julian Assange and protect press freedom with Lee Camp and Consortium News. Also see this recent Newsweek article challenging the “spoiler” myth.

~Goal amount to cover near term expenses by March 31st

Contribution Rules:

  • You can donate up to at total of $2,700, including donations made to the Jill Stein for President 2016 primary election.
  • We cannot accept contributions from corporations, labor unions, and national banks.
  • We do not accept contributions from for-profit businesses (including proprietorships and partnerships) or from corporate-sponsored PACs.
  • We will accept contributions from the PACs of democratic people’s organizations, cooperatives, party committees, and peace, environmental, and community organizations if paid by check.
  • By law, contributions are not tax-deductible for federal, state, or municipal income tax purposes.
  • We do not accept contributions from registered federal or state lobbyists on behalf of for-profit corporations.
  • We do not accept contributions from executive officers of for-profit corporations that employ registered lobbyists.
  •  

With this donation, you certify that:

  • This contribution is made from your own funds, and funds are not being provided to you by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution, and you are not making the contribution in the name of another person.
  • You are making this contribution with your own personal credit card and not with a corporate or business credit card or a card issued to another person.
  • You are not a government contractor.
  • You are at least eighteen years old.
  • You are a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident (i.e., green card holder).
  • You confirm that the above statements are true and accurate.

Thank you for your support!

 

PREFER TO SEND A CHECK?

  1. Make check out to Jill Stein for President (2016).
  2. Make memo on check: Jill Stein for Pres. (2016), “other receipts.”
  3. Send to:
       Jill Stein for President (2016)
       PO Box 5041
       Fall River MA 02723
  4. Please include the following information for FEC reporting purposes:
       •First Name, Last Name
       •Country, Street Address (home), City, State, Zip.
       •Employer (or self-employed, retired, unemployed)
       • Occupation (last occupation if retired or unemployed)

See Contribution Rules above.