The Portland, Maine daily newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, has this editorial in its March 17 issue. The editorial says it is now too easy for an independent candidate to get on the November ballot.
This is ironic, because in 2008, Maine was one of only three states in which there were no minor party or independent candidates on the November ballot for any congressional race or any statewide state office race. The others were Alabama and Washington. Two independent candidates in Maine made serious attempts to get on the ballot for Congress in 2008, but one, Herb Hoffman, was challenged by the Democratic Party and removed from the ballot. The other, Laurie Dobson, was disqualified because even though she submitted her petitions by the legal deadline for handing them in to the town clerks, the town clerks were unable to check them in time.
The editorial makes several errors of logic. The newspaper does not believe that people should run for office unless they have the capacity to win, or at least come close. It does not follow, though, that just because one holds that view about whether candidates should run, that therefore one believes that the law should prevent such candidacies. Any ordinary person may frown at all sorts of behaviors, but will not necessarily advocate that such behaviors be made illegal.
Another problem with the newspaper’s position is that Maine permits anyone to file as a declared write-in candidate. No fee or petition is required. If the law were altered to make it even more difficult to run for office, that would merely increase the number of declared write-in candidates. It costs election administrators more money to count a write-in vote than it does to count a vote for someone who is on the ballot.
The editorial says having candidates on the ballot who can’t win forces the better-supported candidates “fight” for attention. But, in reality, anyone is free to sponsor a debate and invite only the better-supported candidates. Lesser-supported candidates are often ignored. Their presence on the ballot does not force the bigger candidates to struggle for attention. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.
THEY WILL PRINT:
“Hmmmmmmmmm, too much democracy ?
The solution ? More democracy !”
Donald Raymond Lake
263 Eucalyptus Court
Chula Vista
CAlifornia
91910-3030
donlake@ymail.com
(619) 420 – 0209
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Editorials
M.D. Harmon, Editorial Writer
(207) 791-6482 mharmon@mainetoday.com
Greg Kesich, Editorial Writer
(207) 791-6481 gkesich@mainetoday.com
Bill Nemitz, columnist
(207) 791-6323 bnemitz@mainetoday.com
The number of New Age MORONS in the brain dead media about ANY thing *legal* are too many to count.
At least the editorial JUNK is good for lining a garbage can.
P.R. and nonpartisan A.V. — too difficult for MORON editorial writers to understand.
I wonder if they think two choices is too many? It is just unbelievable what nonsense the media prints or broadcasts.
An open primary is the solution here.
The qualification standard is the same for all candidates, and they may draw support from any voter for petition signing and financial and other support.
All voters may vote in the primary, so candidates must appeal to all voters they seek to serve, rather than targeting their appeal to a single faction.
The candidates with the most support qualify for the general election, which gives the voters and the press a second chance to scrutinize the candidates with more support.
Stalin and Hitler would disagree ???????
NewFederalist Says: I wonder if they [The Press] think two choices is too many? It is just unbelievable what nonsense the media prints or broadcasts.
Jim Riley, have you ever in your life taken any action to get a top-two primary in your home state of Texas? Have you talked about the idea to any Texas state legislator, or any newspaper, or pressure group?
#6 I contacted the gubernatorial candidates. Two of them dropped out of the race immediately after. I only heard back from one, but that was a couple of months later, and only to acknowledge my e-mail.
Texas does use a top-two format for special elections, and Houston uses it for its city elections.
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#4 When your only tool is a hammer, all problems start to look like nails. Primary ballot access can be made easier without limiting the electorate to only two choices on their general election ballot (which in practice, means slapping third parties off the ballot in November).
#10 When you have invested so much effort in figuring out how the Gold-Plated Potemkin Multifunction Nail Insertion Device works, you lose sight that the task to be accomplished is to drive a nail. You don’t need the separate major party cartridges that only qualified Democrats and Republicans can load. The smoke and mirrors attachment is totally non-functional and can be discarded, there is no point in reverse engineering it, no matter how much entertainment that may provide.