Iowa’s political-party registry will expand beyond the mainstream parties today, with the addition of the Green Party as another official state party.The liberal party became eligible when presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who ran on the Green Party ticket, garnered 2.23 percent of the vote in Iowa in the Nov. 7 election.”Under Iowa law, an organization can be considered official if its candidate for president or governor receives at least 2 percent of the vote,” said Sharon Haselhoff, representative of the Iowa Secretary of State office.Before today, the only party-registry options were Democrat or Republican.Representatives from the Green Party filed for official party status Jan. 16, and Secretary of State Chet Culver certified the request two days later, Haselhoff said.Starlene Rankin, secretary of Green Party USA in Lawrence, Mass., said the extra exposure official parties get will help spread awareness about the party.”Sometimes it takes thousands of signatures to get on that ballot, and now the [Green Party] candidates will automatically be on the ballot,” said Rankin, a former ISU student who founded the Iowa Green Party. “I think it’s easier to vote, because people will know about the party, where they will not know about parties who do not have ballot status. It will just be more prominently out there.”Derrick Hochstatter, president of the ISU Greens, the only Green Party group in Story County, said the student group has already launched some projects and currently is working to recruit students and members of the community.”In Iowa, each county has to have delegates, a chair and bylaws that contribute to the state party,” said Hochstatter, senior in liberal studies. “They view students as being very supportive and contributing a lot, but we need people to serve as delegates since students are only here a short time.”Haselhoff said Iowa is one of the last states to officially recognize the Green Party.”I think they are official in close to 40 states,” she said.With another option on the ballot, Haselhoff said, it is difficult to tell how the Green Party will affect Iowa voters.”I honestly don’t know,” she said. “I think the real changes will be determined by how they proceed within their party.”In addition to registering as a member of the Green Party, supporters will also be able to participate in precinct caucuses and the 2002 primary, Haselhoff said. The winner of the primary will automatically be on the November 2002 ballot.”The new party will be included in the check-off on the income-tax forms,” she said. “That won’t happen this year, though, because the forms were already printed before this was determined.”In order to maintain party status, she said, a Green Party candidate must receive at least 2 percent of the votes in each presidential and gubernatorial election.Hochstatter said the new party will bring some important issues — including genetic engineering, health, water resources and sustainable agriculture — to the surface of Iowa’s political face.”This shows that the Green Party is a real thing, a viable party,” he said. “People are going to start seeing some issues that haven’t been addressed before being addressed now.”