As a member of the Maine Green Independent Party, I find Douglas Rooks’ insinuation that we don’t deserve the votes that we have earned in partisan races, to be misleading and a bit insulting. It is as if the votes, prior to being cast, belong to the Democratic Party and through our hard work knocking on doors and enlightening voters to a third political viewpoint, we “steal” votes that are not rightfully ours. That is as absurd as me claiming that Eloise Vitelli split the Greens vote in the 2014 state senate race. The votes are owned by the people and they are free to cast them as they wish.

As for Mr. Rooks’ depiction of our lack of political success in partisan races, I would say he is relatively accurate with the facts of our public record. What he did not mention is how the deck is typically stacked against third parties in Maine and across the nation. For instance, there is a documented history of raising the bar for things such a ballot access, clean election funding etc., when we demonstrate the ability to achieve at the older, lower standards. Nor did he mention how third parties work with much smaller budgets and less infrastructure than the big two. Or how PAC money has been flowing into Maine to support Democrats embroiled in close races.

We are also often unequally represented in the media and at certain levels, in the debates.

There is yet another way that we Greens find ourselves on an uneven playing field politically. We do not accept donations from special interest groups. That is because we do not represent special interests. We choose to represent the people of Maine with just and sustainable policy initiatives, regardless of the number of people who choose to

vote for us. David Frans, Brunswick