Oklahoma Representative Tammy West (R-Putnam) has introduced HB 2525. It eases the number of signatures, for statewide office, for petitions in lieu of the filing fee. Thanks to E. Zachary Knight for this news. If the bill passed, the number of signatures in lieu of filing fee would be equal to the number of dollars required for the fee.
How soon before SCOTUS says that ALL filing fees are unconstitutional —
*discrimination* against poor folks ???
No petition signatures for candidates. When the voter signs a poll book that is the only signature required for that voter to cast a ballot for anyone they please. No “filing fee” poll taxes on candidates to ration access for the voters to any candidates they wish to choose.
Just count ALL the damn votes and stop short-changing voters with a rigged ballot!
Due to really BAAAD spelling in this NEW AGE — esp for any *complex* names —
perhaps each candidate gets an office-number.
Voters take the time to look up office-numbers and vote the office-numbers ???
See the Sen Murkowski write-in saga.
Eliminate filing fees which permits candidates to buy their way on to the ballot, and require a modest showing of support. 0.1% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
In Oklahoma:
Statewide 1200
Congress: 240
Senate: 25
House: 12
Have the supporters gather at courthousez and be checked off the voter rolls.
Filing fees are a partial offset to the cost of having elections.
How about a special election lottery ???
ALL paper mail secret ballots — NO poll workers partially *working* on election days.
Oregon survives.
The general election used to be when a “showing of support” was measured before ballot censorship began in 1888. All these notions of some quota before a voter is allowed to choose are censorship in violation of what used to be a right proclaimed in the First Amendment. Is the Constitution defunct if elections are a sham?
@DFR,
It is silly to believe that voting itself is free speech. If it were, there would not be a limit on the number of times a voter could vote, or where one could vote, or require literacy or property or a certain sex in order to vote.
@ Jim Riley, I just saw your comment.
Write-in voting is free speech. It is also publishing of speech. Elections collect instances of speech in a manner that can used mathematically to choose government officials.
I voting is not speech and publishing, then explain to us what it is.