Press Release - September 21, 2006

LEXINGTON - Secretary of State candidate Jill Stein noted that Tuesday's primary election results "show that voters are thirsting for change, but finding few races in which there is an alternative to business as usual.It is clear that after November most faces will be the same in the Legislature and the forces arrayed againstgrassroots democracy will still be formidable on Beacon Hill.Voters badly need an independent Secretary of State who will take seriously the need to restore health to our ailing democracy." Stein, who will now face Secretary of State William Galvin in the November election, offered these remarks on the meaning of Tuesday's election results:

"While voter turnout may have increased over recent years, it is still a sad commentary on the health of our democracy when nearly three out of every four voters feel there's no reason to get out and vote. Those reasons are no secret. I've been talking to people across the Commonwealth, and they're tired of politics as usual - tired of an election system awash in bigger money than ever; tired of having no choices on the ballot; and tired of seeing ordinary people prevented from running for lack of personal fortunes or political warchests. They are tired of voting rights violations, and they are tired of seeing the same insiders return to office year after year - with a Soviet-style re-election rate of 98% prevailing in Massachusetts.

People are tired of the influence peddling that's become a way of life on Beacon Hill as lobbying has virtually exploded over the past decade. They're tired of the secrecy that allows critical bills - like the unraveling health care plan - to be written behind closed doors and rammed into law without meaningful public review. And people are tired of careless state contracting that wastes taxpayer dollars, benefits big campaign contributors, and endangers the public. As we've seen recently in the Big Dig scandal, Beacon Hill looked the other way for years, ignoring waste and shoddy construction until the predictable human tragedy was suddenly in the headlines.

If we are to solve the serious and growing problems facing the Commonwealth, we need to open up Beacon Hill, get the big money out, and let the people back in.

I'm finding that people are delighted when they see it is within our power to take our democracy back. We can end the culture of secrecy by removing the exemption the legislature granted itself from the open meeting law. We can allow ordinary people to participate in an open process of government, rather than having our laws written in secret by lobbyists and insiders. By restoring public financing for qualified candidates, as provided in the Clean Elections Law, we can restore competition, and allow people the choice of voting for candidates that don't owe favors to big money campaign donors. We can fight influence-peddling by shining daylight on lobbying transactions - so people can know how money changes hands below the radar, and how their representatives vote on the bills for which they are being lobbied. These reforms are essential if we are to make people - not the powerful and politically connected - the drivers in our political system. Then we can start to solve the serious and growing problems facing the families and communities of the Commonwealth.

I look forward to presenting these ideas to the voters as I take my campaign across the state. Prior to the primary, Secretary Galvin refused to debate his opponents, suggesting that as a 12-year Beacon Hill insider, he is above the election process, and not obliged to answer questions from the voters. But the vital signs of our democracy clearly show that democracy is worse off now than when he took office. And without the compass of democracy, public policy has lost its bearings, so the challenges of daily life facing vast numbers of residents have become almost insurmountable. My sincere hope is that Secretary Galvin will rethink his refusal to debate, and will show the people of Massachusetts the respect they deserve by discussing the issues with me in an open forum. Regardless, I will continue to speak directly to the voters on how, working together, we can get our democracy back on track and start building the healthy, just Commonwealth we deserve."