Fox and Hounds has this article, suggesting that California’s exclusion of minor party candidates on the general election ballot is partly responsible for low turnout in November 2014 in California. California has the nation’s biggest drop in general election turnout between November 2010 and November 2014. The article is by Richard Winger.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
The United Coalition would like to ask those questioning the turnout to look in the mirror where the reasons for low turnout can be found.
The United Coalition has been promoting a unifying voting systems.
While we’re small, our position wasn’t given any ink in the elections being cited here in this article.
In fact, all the names who were participating in a United Coalition were (intentionally?) left out while those promoting division are continually printed over and over again as we see by this article.
The 9th USA Parliament has been promoting the unifying voting system of pure proportional representation (PR) as a way to get things done collaboratively, not unilaterally:
http://www.usparliament.org
Great job on the article, Richard! Well-written and concisely makes the point!
Those opposed to Top Two, which is actually a small step forward in voting reform passed by the majority of California voters, are continually beating the drums of division and hostility.
Their rhetoric to divide, treat unity of the 100% with hostility and disdain has been well documented over and over by such one-sided posts as this one claiming that Top Two harmed third parties.
But as one person who phoned many candidates, both major party, third party and independent candidates, before and after the California primaries since 1994, including the recent California primaries and runoffs in 2010, 2012, 2014, I can speak first-hand that the reason for low turnout is the players and not the rules.
Those candidates who did reach the runoff ballot who treat cooperation with hostility are many, and they are towing the line of the mean party bosses who are inflaming the divisions to their own loss.
The reasons for the low turnout between 2010 and 2014 is because of the hostile nature of the establishment press and the party bosses towards a unifying voting system, their hostility to new ideas, hostility to cooperation and their inability to think on their feet, to be polite, receptive and communicative to those reaching out to build the infrastructure for success.
Their party boss system and hence their candidates have failed and that’s why the voter turnout is low.
The voters have been looking for something new and unifying for the whole, the inclusion and peaceful alternatives to force and violence but the established media, the party bosses and the candidates haven’t delivered, and they are on track to not deliver in the future.
These ogres simply need to look in the mirror to understand why voter turnout is on the downtrend.
NO primaries.
Ballot access in general elections ONLY by equal nominating petitions – to get SERIOUS candidates.
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
Richard Winger ignores the no-US-senate-race effect where the largest declines in turnout are associated.with states with no US Senate race, He also ignores that California was 12th in increase from 2006-2010; after being 11th in increase from 2002-2006.
We can’t blame those on a change in the electoral system, so let’s look at who was running. In 2006 Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for re-election. In 2002, Gray Davis was elected. Then in 2010, Meg Whitman was running against Jerry Brown, and a quarter Billion (with a B as in Big Buck$$$) was spent on the race. In 2014, no senate race, and Jerry Brown is not as exciting as he was 40 years ago. If people even know that Jerry Brown’s father was governor, they will think it was that guy who followed Ronald Reagan.
So let’s look at 2010. Largest percentage increases: #1 LA, #2 NC, #4 SC, #5 GA, #6 AL all had senate races in 2010, but not 2006. #3 MS had two hotly contested House races with turnout 46% and 52% above 2006. #7 DE special election to replace Joe Biden who had resigned to become Vice President. #8 WA hotly contested senate race. Washington had the highest turnout in a midterm election since the 18-year old vote in the early 1970s. Does Washington use Top 2 in 2010? I think so. That kind of blows your theory out of the water. Alternate theory: Sam Reed was 10 times the SOS that Debra Bowen ever thought about being.
Continuing, #9 WV, special election to replace Robert Byrd. First time that had been an open seat since 1958, when Eisenhower was president. #10, NV, serious challenge of Harry Reid. #11, another switch from no senate to as senate election.
#12 CA. up 9.5% over 2006, and 2006 featured Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Richard Winger’s bias has done an incredible amount of damage over the years/decades.
I can’t believe how much one person can affect all our efforts for making progress, with him continually blasting cannon shots all around our ship’s deck. 😉
Richard Winger’s bias ??? I have been reading BAN since the early 1980’s when it was “HR 1582 News” and, over all the years, been impressed by the lack of bias as to 3rd parties and independents. He has faithfully reported the efforts, defeats and those all too few triumphs of 3rd party and independent groups and candidates – whether left, right or center, serious or “kook.” Moreso, he has made himself available to research and/or testify for them. He even allows one person to perpetually crowd these comment pages with trite tripe about a make-believe parliament! No, Richard Winger and BAN have been an incredible resource and help to all of those who oppose the Democans and Republicrats!
There is no general rule that midterm turnout always goes down (compared to the previous midterm year) in years when a state doesn’t have a US Senate race. In 2014, turnout went up in Wisconsin and Florida compared to 2010, and those two states didn’t have a US Senate race in 2014, but they did in 2010.
How many folks moving around since Great Depression II started in 2006 (repeat 2006) ???
I.E. how dubious are the estimates about turnouts ???
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
There is a general rule that turnout does go down when there is no US Senate race, and goes up when the opposite is true.
There are exceptions to that rule.
In 2014, Scott Walker was running for re-election as governor in Wisconsin. In 2014, Rick Scott was running for re-election against former governor Charlie Crist.
Comparing 2006 to 2002, states which did not have a senate race in 2002 had an average rank of 23.4 in change in turnout. States which did not have a senate race in 2006 had an average rank of 34.9.
California in 2014 had no senate race, and a generally non-competitive gubernatorial race. In 2010 California had a senate race, with the incumbent the weaker candidate of the two California senators. And it had a gubernatorial race for an open seat in which a quarter of a billion of dollars was spent.
Top Two is bad regardless of the turnout.