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Natural Law Party Executive Commmittee Votes To Expand, Strengthen Coalition

The Executive Committee of the Natural Law Party met Sunday, December 17, for the first time since Election Day 2000.

The 27-member Committee, which is composed of Party leaders representing different geographic regions of the country, celebrated the achievements of the 2000 campaign — the most successful of the five national NLP campaigns conducted since the Party's founding in 1992.

In the 2000 election, Natural Law Party candidates and their coalition partners in the Independence Party of New York and in numerous Reform Party state organizations polled an average 3.2 percent of the vote, with some candidates drawing as much as 20 to 30 percent. In addition, working in close coordination with the Reform and Independence Parties, the Natural Law Party forged the most significant coalition of third parties in U.S. political history.

"We have laid the foundation for a powerful, new independent political movement 'of, by and for the people,' one that can speak for the growing millions of registered independent voters and all those increasingly disillusioned with the two-party system," said Party Chair Kingsley Brooks. "Because of the impressive vote totals of our candidates around the country, we have won ballot access in many states, giving us an important head start in future campaigns."

The success in the U.S. has outpaced Natural Law Parties in other countries, which have typically polled in the fractions of a percent. Many of these parties are considering shifting their efforts to promoting innovative, Natural-Law based policies outside the political arena.

"The Natural Law Party of the United States will grow stronger by expanding its base of support and building on the success of the coalitions developed in the last election cycle," said Party Vice-Chair Tom Stanley.

This commitment was expressed in a resolution passed at the Executive Committee meeting:

"Whereas the Natural Law Party has grown beyond its founding base, and has demonstrated its ability to forge broad-based coalitions of independent parties, activists, and voters;

"Now, therefore the Executive Committee of the Natural Law Party resolves:

"To solicit increased participation by independent and reform-minded political activists in the Natural Law Party at all levels--national, state, and local, and;

"To recruit leaders of our broad-based coalition of independent and reform-minded voters from around the country to serve as members of an expanded Natural Law Party Executive Committee."

Commenting on the Executive Committee meeting, California NLP Co-Chair Judy Barath Black added, "Our work did not end on November 7th. The purpose of our Party is to solve America's pressing social, economic, and environmental problems through the most up-to-date, effective, and humane solutions in harmony with Natural Law. We must build our support base and strengthen our coalition for the next campaign. In the meantime, our candidates, activists, and volunteers will work closely with our newly elected political leaders, presenting them with commonsense solutions to America's problems."