None of the above; socialism and the “Box effect”
October 21st, 2008 at 09:19am Chuck Sweeny
My Thursday column contains three items, leading off with my belief that we should have a “none of the above” option in all elections to allow us to reject bad candidates and call for a new election with new candidates.
Entry Filed under: sweeny column
7 Comments Add your own
1. Milton Waddams | October 21st, 2008 at 10:01 am
This district race is a perfect reason why ballot access rules need to be changed. There is NO good reason that an independent or new party candidate should have to get 25000 signatures to run against these clowns when they need around 1000. That wasn’t a typo, Independents need 25000, Republicans and Democrats need around 1000. We the People need to demand that the 2 established parties stop keeping out their competition with utterly unfair ballot access requirements.
2. Billybeermonicagar | October 21st, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Milt, I agree 100%.
3. Moreinformedthanyou | October 22nd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Milton,
Your numbers are wrong, and you don’t even understand the difference in running in a primary and running in a general election. Please do not just say things to say things. You are not completely informed about this issue.
4. Milton Waddams | October 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
You are right, my numbers are a little wrong. For the 69th district, Wait and Tuite needed 500, and independent or new party candidates needed 2958. ONLY 6 times as many. For the Presidential election, established party candidates needed no less than 3000 and no more than 5000, while independents and new party candidates needed 25000 or 5% of votes cast in the previous election, whichever is the smaller (since we generally have more than 500,000 votes cast in a presidential race, 25000 is the smaller and thus required number). I’m not really sure what your primary versus general election comment was meant to imply.
My point is still uncontested….why would we want to make it so difficult for someone else to get a chance? I don’t have a problem with the signature requirements being a little more difficult, but 6 times the number of signatures is extreme. Since the major parties are the ones making the rules, the question should be asked, what are they afraid of?
5. Moreinformedthanyou | October 22nd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
When you calculate the number of votes needed, members of a political party are running in the primary. You only calculate the number of votes for the primary. If you are going to run as an independant or a group that does not have a primary, you must count the number of votes in the general election since you are not running in a primary. This, and only this, is the reason for the disparity. Nothing nefarious going on.
6. Neal Ken | October 24th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I knew Charlie Box. I worked with Charlie Box. I fought with Charlie Box. Charlie Box, sir, is no Barack Obama.
7. Chuck Sweeny | October 24th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Anyone who knows Box knows you do not call him “Charlie.” He is just Charles.
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