The East Valley Tribune, which covers the eastern Phoenix suburbs, has this article about HB 2305, an election law bill sitting on the Governor’s desk which makes it very difficult for members of small qualified parties to get on their own party primary ballots. The reporter quotes several Republican legislators as saying that they wrote the bill that way because they are upset that Libertarian candidates last year were on the general election ballot in certain races. Such quotations are likely to be relevant to any lawsuit against the measure, if the Governor signs it into law.
Similar remarks were made earlier this year by Montana legislators, when they passed a top-two measure and arranged for the voters to vote on it in 2014. Montana Republican legislators openly said they are tired of having Libertarians on the ballot.
Well, hey — at least these partisan hacks are honest about it!
As Republicans these hypocritical legislators often tout “free enterprise” and “competition” just not for THEIR occupation. Rather than compete in the marketplace of ideas (campaigns and policies) they chose the unconstitutional and unethical easy route of rigging the elections to keep out too much competition, damn the consumer/voters! They want their state-protected duopoly.
Back in the early 1990s, while lobbying here in Missouri for fair ballot access, a few shameful House and Senate legislators from both sides of the isle stood up on the floor to “warn” their fellow legislators that my pending ballot-access bill would mean that the likes of Ross Perot, Libertarians, and other trouble-making parties could more easily get on the ballot — and that Missouri would risk falling into a petty dictatorship ala Nicaragua, etc.
Some politician’s blatant prejudice against (political) minorities is so bad that one elder and senior senator (Webster) cautioned his peers that to ease ballot access could risk communists getting back into public life!
[Fortunately years later cool & rational heads prevailed and the bill passed. Tho when it got before the governor (Ashcroft) he personally told me he wasn’t sure that making it less difficult for minor parties & independents is a good idea. Later he vetoed the omnibus bill that contained the ballot-access relief tho he publicly stated that he did so due to other unrelated provisions in the bill.
In a later session another governor signed it into law!]
I am shocked! SHOCKED!
The same may go for Democrats as far as the Greens are concerned.
Actually, since 2006 in Pennsylvania, I can’t remember any instance of Democrats trying to keep Greens off any ballot. In 2012 in Pennsylvania, no one challenged the Green presidential petition. Nor did anyone challenge the statewide Illinois Green petition in 2012 (and before that the party was on the ballot automatically in Illinois). No one challenged the Green statewide petition in New York in 2010, and because the Greens got enough to stay on, they were not vulnerable in New York in 2012. Even the Texas Democrats failed to run a full slate of statewide candidates in 2012, which is why the Greens are on in Texas for 2014.
2010 in Texas.
Ah, our democratic election system. What a contradiction of terms…
Uhm. Is anybody actually surprised at this?
The same may go for the Greens as far as the Socialists are concerned.