Notice is given of, and Greens from across Georgia are urged to gather for, the 2022 Additional Annual Convention of the Georgia Green Party. We will convene on Friday, September 23rd, at 7pm for two hours; then again on Saturday, September 24th at 10am, with plans to adjourn at 4pm that afternoon. Please ignore notice of an earlier August date for this event. The July 17th meeting of the state committee were agreed to roll back the dates to allow more time for platform work in advance of this annual opportunity to amend the state party’s governing policy document. Green Party members and others registered to participate in the Convention are invited to schedule at one hour intervals, opportunities for Greens from their counties to caucus for the purpose of naming delegates from their county to the additional Annual Convention for 2020 of the Georgia Green Party. This virtual event will be hosted on an online conferencing platform and pre-registration is required.
This meeting will consider nominations for internal party offices, including eight two year seats and two one year seats on the state committee, plus two two year seats on the state party’s Delegation on National Green Party Affairs. The Annual Meeting will also consider proposed amendments to the state party platform and proposed changes to the bylaws as such may have been previously reviewed by the state committee.
Our Party has traditionally held its nominating convention on the first Saturday of June in each election year. But the 2017 session adopted HB-268 ignoring case law finding that an early qualifying deadline for emerging political parties is unconstitutional in order to align for the convenience of the office of the Secretary of State, the qualifying period for candidates of a political body (like the Green Party, who nominate by convention and petition) with the qualifying period for candidates of the political parties (Republicans and Democrats which nominate by Primary). This calendar change has cost our party 130 days or more for its candidate recruitment efforts. The officers of the Georgia Green Party welcome queries from Georgia attorneys willing to help us litigate this and other issues related to ballot access for Green Party candidates in Georgia.
In March of this year, our slate of two candidates for the Georgia General Assembly qualified with the Secretary of State. They are busy finalizing their ballot access petitioning efforts to secure their place on the ballot. Bradley Smith in Georgia 106th District and Jimmy Cooper from Georgia’s 145th District are each expected to attend. Party officers remain eager to speak with you about opportunities to run in subsequent election cycles for public office in your community as well.