The 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein is set to visit Humboldt County on Wednesday as part of her statewide California political tour.

Stein has been a third-party candidate for the past two presidential elections and continues to push voter disenfranchisement, which she said limited voters in the 2016 election.

Stein said Humboldt County is essential to third-party candidates and democracy in general because it votes Green three times more than the California average and five times more than the national average.

“Humboldt County has been at the leading edge of thinking differently during a time of political soul searching, especially when a lot of people feel abandoned by both major political parties,” Stein said.

She said the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project made excellent strides in the voting system.

The project passed every ballot cast in an election through an optical scanner after it was officially counted. This helped officials notice a discrepancy in the county’s vote count in the November 2008 election and led to the discovery of almost 200 ballots disappearing from the final vote tally.

This led to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s withdrawing the state’s approval of the Premier Elections Solution system.

Stein also emphasized the importance in creating sustainable and livable wage jobs for the working class, which is part of the Green Party’s plan called the Green New Deal — a topic she plans to discuss in her talk at HSU.

She said the Green New Deal aims to handle two issues at once — recognizing the right to employment for people struggling with finding job security and focusing on green energy and sustainable technology for the future.

Humboldt County is home to former presidential candidate David Cobb, who lives in Eureka. Cobb said it’s important to realize that Humboldt County has been a hotbed for Green Party culture for many years.

“Greens are involved here in city councils, hospitals, school boards, the harbor district. They’ve been elected and continue to grow in this community,” Cobb said. “Arcata was the first Green Party majority in the United States and protected civil liberties during the Patriot Act,

“The Green Party is constantly engaged in social change. We’re not only here for election season,” he continued. “That’s why our presidential candidate is still touring and her first stop is Humboldt County.”

Stein recently raised millions of dollars from close to 161,000 people in less than 24 hours to help with recount efforts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“Those voters who dug into their pockets and contributed should know that their funds are still being put to work with ongoing litigation,” Stein said. “We’re continuing to examine the rules and administer the red tape. This is definitely not over.

“This is a call to hold our voter systems accountable, which is a tribute to Arcata and its history with the Green Party,” she continued. “California and Humboldt County have really been ahead of the curve.”

Stein also said Humboldt County provided an incredible area for grassroots organizations to thrive, especially those pertaining to environmental justice, social justice, Native American rights, undocumented immigrant rights, legalization under Proposition 64, and socio-economic issues.

“It’s really important at the grassroots level to help support people in smaller communities,” Stein said. “Running as a presidential candidate gave me the chance to get a bird’s eye view of the powerful transformative revolution of people who feel that they’ve been thrown under the bus. People are living in fear. In this election most people were voting against a candidate based on fear. What we’ve found is the politics of fear delivers everything we’re afraid of.”

Stein said that she and Gary Johnson, of the Libertarian Party, were not allowed to participate in major debates because the limitations of the two-party system.

“We have voter suppression that has caused our democracy to be on life support,” Stein said. “This is causing a multi-organ system failure in our government.”

Natalya Estrada can be reached at 707-441-0510.

If you go

What: Jill Stein at Humboldt State University

When: Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m.

Where: Kate Buchanan Room at HSU in Arcata

Ticket Information: 707-826-3928