I sent the following message to Berkshire Greens on the occasion of today’s (Sep 6, 2012) state primary election.  The write-in votes that I cast were consistent with my June 25 endorsement of Patsy Harris and Bill Shein.

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Today the Commonwealth runs primary elections for all parties in Massachusetts for a number of offices.  Polls opened at 7am and stay open until 8pm.

If you are given the Green-Rainbow Party primary ballot today you will see that only write-in votes are possible with the exception of State Representative in the 4th Berkshire District, where I am a ballot-qualified candidate.

If you reside in the 4th Berkshire District please consider voting for me.  The winner will appear on the general election ballot on the Green-Rainbow Party line.  In other districts and for other offices please use the write-in spaces available on the ballot to send a message.

This is the ballot that I cast on September 6, 2012 in Lenox.

My statement to Berkshire Greens continues.

The paucity of ballot-qualified Green-Rainbow Party candidates in this election is a function of our still-small size.  I hope that we will continue to grow so that in future years there are more candidates and there are contested GRP primary races.  Our emergence in the primary election arena will present good opportunities to put more candidates before voters and to demonstrate to the electorate how our values, and the lack of groveling for big-money corporate donors, translate into the kind of races that we run and the kind of governance that we espouse.

May I suggest to anyone who takes the Green-Rainbow Party primary ballot tomorrow to write-in the names of anyone they would like to see appear on the November general election ballot on our party line?

In my case, when I am given the Green-Rainbow Party primary ballot tomorrow in Lenox I will vote for myself for State Representative.  I will also write in Bill Shein for Congress and I will write in Patsy Harris for Register of Deeds.  I will write in Peter Vickery for Councilor (Governor’s Council).  I will write in the name of Gail Garrett for State Senate.

If I were registered to vote in the 3rd Berkshire District I would write in the name of either Mark Miller or Bruce Winn for State Representative.  In the 1st Berkshire District I would write in the name of either Trish Gorman, Justin Adkins, or Fidel Moreno for State Representative.

Do not forget to reveal to whomever it was that you voted for that you did so and why.  It is not too early to begin thinking about the 2014 elections.

Though admittedly symbolic, the message that we send with these write-in votes is that we desire to see these candidates on the November ballot representing the Green-Rainbow Party to general election voters.

Because of the aforementioned paucity of Green-Rainbow Party candidates this year and because of the existence of contested races in other party primaries, some Green-Rainbow Party members may have registered Unenrolled (aka Independent) last month so as to enable their participation in other party primaries.  If this applies to you I hope that you will soon re-register back into the party of the ten key values, back into the party that was the first and is still the only party to have formally endorsed the message of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and back into the only party that neither solicits or accepts corporate / lobbyist contributions.  This party is, of course, the Green-Rainbow Party.

Let’s continue to grow and to become stronger.  I will be proud to cast a Green-Rainbow Party primary ballot today.

Lee Scott Laugenour

Green-Rainbow Party State Committee

Berkshire Hampshire Franklin and Hampden State Senatorial District

Candidate for State Representative, 4th Berkshire District

September 6, 2012