2006 Green Party candidate for State Senate, former co-chair of the Rhode Island Green Party, RI

Available to speak on the following subjects:
Help America Vote Act
Green Party Organizing

Bio
Jeff Toste is the former co-chair of the Green Party of Rhode Island. He helped the party gain ballot status as the organizer for the Nader 2000 Campaign, and was a delegate to the Green Party 2004 National convention. In 2003, he served with community and political leaders from Rhode Island as a member of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Committee convened by the RI Secretary of State. Recognized as one of the most active members of HAVA, Toste proposed a state commission to study Instant Runoff Voting; was a leader in ensuring a paper trail to validate votes; and suggested a system to facilitate a voter registration program for ex-felons.

In 2002, Toste ran for State Senate and got 23% of the vote - the highest percentage of votes for any non-Democratic candidate in a general assembly race for that year in Providence. He was endorsed by the RI Latino Political Action Committee, becoming the first Green Party candidate to be endorsed by a Latino federation. In a second bid for the seat in 2004, Toste won one-third of the vote ??? even though district lines were redrawn after the 2002 election eliminating much of his original base of support. In 2006, he won 30% for the same office.

Toste (pronounced TOAST-EE) was born in Providence to a Portuguese-American family and raised on a dairy farm. He earned a bachelor's degree in Illustration and Design from the University of Massachusetts, North Dartmouth. Toste currently works for the United States Census Bureau and also as a freelance artist in Providence. He believes it is essential that we rebuild our democracy via a grassroots democratic party accountable to working families.

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