Starts taking steps to become an officially recognized political party.
The Pirate Party of the United States has announced that it is currently trying to register itself as an officially recognized party in the state of Utah.
The first step in the registration of the Pirate Party as a political body in the State of Utah is to gather statements of support from at least 2000 registered voters in the state, and it has until early February 2008 to do so.
“We feel that Utah is an ideal state to begin registration of the Pirate Party as a political body,” says Andrew Norton, spokesperson for the Pirate Party of the US. “Utah has a strong history of political diversity, and technological progress.”
The interim Administrator for the Pirate Party of Utah, Ray Jenson says, “This is a big step forward for our party. Utah is a perfect place to start. With the right people, we actually stand a chance at turning around the civil liberties situation.”
Mr. Norton went on in saying that “voters in Utah are now one step closer to being able to voice their opinions on the key issues our party stands for.” Anyone wishing to assist in the collection of signatures is invited to contact the party.
Now I think some out there, particularly the anti-Bush crowd, will try to criticize this effort as many did Nader with his Green Party movement, in that there are fears that it will siphon votes from more mainstream candidates who’s loss or victory could have more far-reaching effects.
This was certainly the case with Ross Perot in 1992, whose entrance into the field of presidential candidates paved the way for Bill Clinton to win the presidency. It was also the case in 2000 when Ralph Nader’s run for the White House via the Green Party helped engineer George W.Bush’s win in 2000 by losing out on votes in critical “battleground” states like Florida.
I think these fears are misplaced in this case because for one it is merely a state party with no national platform or ability to affect a presidential election, but also I think its purpose could best be served by endorsing candidates with the greatest understanding of technology-related issues like intellectual property laws, net neutrality, media consolidation, etc..
As is noted on the Pirate Party website, “We have several technical issues that we need to address that people in Utah are trying to make laws about that don’t understand the technology.”
It could serve best by endorsing preexisting candidates who best understand the sort of technology issues I mentioned and who show the greatest ability and resolve to address them.
The chance to create a body of like-minded people who are sincere and informed about issues you actually care about is perhaps the greatest allure of the Pirate Party and could in fact help to increase voter turnout among the young and disaffected.
If you live in Utah and want to register for the Pirate Party you can contact them here.
In any event, I formally wish the Pirate Party of Utah the best of luck and hope for its future success.
***UPDATE:
I had chance to catch up with Andrew Norton, the International Liaison for the Pirate Party of the United States, and he was kind enough to take the time and answer a few questions for me.
ZP: Why Utah?
The basic answer is, It has enough people who are willing and dedicated to take the effort and start the party there. Its just a simple combination of supporters and the state requirements for registering a party.
ZP: What other states, if any are people also allowed to register?
We have no restrictions. If there are enough people willing to put in the time and effort to get a state party going in their locality, that’s great. We’re very lucky in having someone with Ray Jenson’s enthusiasm and energy for the project in Utah.
ZP: Immediate goals of the Utah Pirate Party?
I would think ‘gaining the 2000 signatures of (and this is the important part) registered voters, stating they support the party. Of course, the sort of person who is going to be most interested in the party, is also not a typical voter, so we will also have voter registration papers
ZP: (anything else you’d like to mention)
The assertion that we’re just another useless 3rd party is false, is is any claim that 3rd parties are pointless, is wrong. The ’3rd party vote is a wasted vote’ or a ‘election-losing vote’ is not exactly true. It is only true as long as people believe it to be true and act accordingly. If you end up voting for someone you want to beat the guy you don’t want elected, rather than who you do want elected, is it really democracy? Are you not the one wasting your vote, perverting democracy, and leading to the current political situation.
—- THX again Andrew.
[The Pirate Party of the United States]
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/politics/Pirate_Party_Officially_Begins_Forming_in_Utah’;
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People are apathetic because no one really believes their voice or vote is heard or means anything anymore. The biggest challenge for any political party is getting grassroots support and that involves actually representing them with more than just words. If the Pirate party can do that – they could be serious competition. Right now I wouldn’t even call our politics a two party system.
Pirate Party for Illinois now please.
@Utah
Well Nader did receive some 97000 votes in Florida in 2000 and many who voted foir him surely wouldve voted for Gore instead who merely needed like 1000 to win I believe?
J.M. I’m in complete agreement. I’d also like to add that for a country who claims a corner on the market in democracy there are surprisingly few people who are actually involved. A lot of this I think has to do with the way people think about politics. Nobody’s willing to step up to the plate and actually try to say something’s wrong because we’ve been taught that politics are boring and that one person can’t make a difference. The point is numbers are needed in order to change anything and with less than 35% of all people in the US who are eligible to vote actually voting none of this is likely to change.
Pirate party or not if people aren’t willing to make a stand then there will be no change and the Utah Pirate Party will fall to the wayside in Utah just as the Libertarians Greens Reforms and Socialists.
The list of things that actually need changing is still short but it’s an important list. Civil liberties aren’t really something that one industry should be allowed to change yet there they are chipping away at freedom of speech privacy fair use due process and network neutrality. All of these issues are interconnected even if the connection isn’t obvious.
And… they didn’t “lose out votes” in Florida in 2000… those votes were mishandled. And again in 2004. I wonder if Florida will have a problem in 2008. This is why we need a more transparent government. Any government who tries to argue that counting votes in secret will help deter mishandling votes has its head on backward.
I so totally agree J.M.
I sure wish them the best of luck also. They’re gonna need it. Never has been in the history of modern democracy such a state as the USA. The country that claims to posses all the democracy in the world yet has only two leading parties for God knows how long and never changing a damn thing in it’s politics. So much power and wealth yet so little wisdom. What a shame.