1. I had asked Senator Ward if he would introduce a bill which would have allowed 3rd parties to co-nominate major party nominees and allow their names to have appeared twice on the ballot – once as the major party nominee and once as the 3rd party nominee.

   This bill would not have required any signatures to have been collected, and the only stipulations were (1) the major party nominee had signed an agreement to accept the 3rd party nomination and appear additionally on the ballot as the 3rd party nominee, and (2) the 3rd party had to be organized by having a list of its officers and members of its state executive committee on file with the Secretary of State Office no later than January 1 of the year when the primary elections are held, and the 3rd party would also have to have a copy of it By-Laws on file with the Secretary of State. If the 3rd party wanted to run candidates not co-nominated, they would still have to obtain the necessary number of signatures for placement of these candidates on the ballot.

   Apparently, Senator Ward didn’t think the co-nomination bill had much chance. I was personally disappointed as I will continue to believe until the major parties start to fall apart, it is going to be hard for a 3rd party to win much more than a local office here and there – a growing process which could take 50 to 75 years.

   Having a major party nominee listed twice – once as the major party nominee and then again as the 3rd party nominee, would give members of that 3rd party something to work harder for and perhaps provide the balance of power in the general election. This way if a candidate for Governor, for example, was elected by 25 to 30 thousand votes, and the majority of those came from the 3rd party line, the 3rd party would have something to bargain with, let alone the publicity it would get.

   I hope more 3rd partisans will give more thought to co-nomination and not put all their eggs in one basket.

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