U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney, Jr., will hear Libertarian Party of Virginia v Virginia State Board of Elections, e.d., 3:20cv-349, on Friday, June 19. This is the lawsuit filed by the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, and Independent Green Parties for ballot access relief due to the health crisis.
On June 16, the state filed this brief, arguing that the plaintiffs are not entitled to relief.
What is the actual difference (other than organizational) between the Green Party and the Independent Green Party? Why do they have both?
The Independent Green Party is entirely interested in environmental issues and does not have a program on economic issues. The Green Party in the U.S. has a platform position which would be considered somewhat similar to Bernie Sanders’ economic policy ideas.
The Green Party of Virginia is the Green Party associated with the Green Party of the United States. The Independent Greens are not, and are mostly a regional group that focuses on transportation issues. They endorse many minor candidates for office that do not promote a progressive agenda based on the key values of the GPUS and GPVA.
So the Independent Green Party is actually the party for environmentalists and the regular Green Party is for socialists that happen to care about the environment