Election Reform: fraudulent voting practices were developed by and are fomented by our partisan system

Election reform has never been more important at a time when less than half of people vote in major elections (and somewhere around 10-15% in important local elections) and yet the establishment (partisan) voices drone on about voter fraud and campaign finance. At a time when 40% of the American people identify as independent... Re-imagine the whole of American politics! [See vid below]

Democracy demands a much higher bar -- full participation by the American people -- which will of necessity come from outside the current party system.

Let's face it, the most fraudulent voting practices were developed by and are fomented by our partisan system that requires complete allegiance to a slate of partisan scalawags who vow to betray the democratic values of our nation! To wit:

ELECTION REFORM

• Editorial: Voting laws need big change (EDITORIAL Poughkeepsie Journal) These deflating numbers are clearly unacceptable. A slew of solutions has to be pursued aggressively. They range from scheduling early voting dates, to greatly bolstering the ability of residents to register online. They must involve clearer, cleaner ballots and lengthening registration deadlines. They have to include campaign finance reform to give challengers a fighting chance to compete against entrenched incumbents. They ought to feature an independent process to draw fair, impartial political boundaries rather than leaving it up to the politicians to carve up those lines at will.
• Ark. AG outlines election reform proposals (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, The Republic - Columbus IN) Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Thursday said he is pushing a package of legislative proposals that would toughen the penalties for fraudulently gathering signatures for a ballot measure and require more disclosures from those working on ballot question campaigns.
• FEC Complaint Could Limit Corporate Donations In Elections (By Alex Gauthier, IVN) Responding to inquiries from the press, Dan Conston, CLF’s communications director told the Hill, “[It’s] an obvious coordinated intimidation tactic from the left masquerading as just one more utterly baseless complaint.”

EDUCATION REFORM
Reform candidates see mixed results in Los Angeles school board race (Brandon Lowrey - Reuters, Chicago Tribune)  Reformers, backed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Coalition for School Reform, want to expand charter schools and change the way the district hires, evaluates and fires teachers. They faced opposition from the local teacher's union, United Teachers Los Angeles, which has funded its own slate of candidates. Voters handed Villaraigosa and his allies one victory outright, one defeat and one draw that will be decided in a runoff election in May.

Harry Kresky: A Cautionary Tale For Electoral Reformists

The Hankster reprints here in full NYC attorney Harry Kresky's brief article concerning Richard Winger's $243,279.50 attorney fees for anti-"Top Two" lawsuit.

Harry Kresky is councel to IndependentVoting.org and Chair of Election Law Committee of New York County Lawyers Association. He blogs at Legal Briefs and publishes regularly on Huffington Post.

A CAUTIONARY TALE

Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News and a longtime advocate for the rights of minor parties, has, along with several others, been held liable to pay $243,279.50 in attorney’s fees after losing a lawsuit brought to invalidate California’s new “top-two” primary system, adopted in a June, 2010 referendum.  I understand that a motion for reconsideration has been filed, and I am hopeful that this penalty will be vacated so that Richard’s important work in the area of electoral reform will not be crippled.

This unfortunate situation is a cautionary tale for those of us who seek to advance the cause of electoral reform through the courts.  

Richard and I have worked together for many years in various efforts to open up the electoral process and level the playing field for independent voters and minor parties. We differ strongly on the issue of top-two.  In Richard’s view, top-two hurts minor parties by limiting the candidates on the general election ballot to the two highest vote getters in a non-partisan primary election in which all candidates and all voters, regardless of party affiliation, participate on an equal footing.  Candidates are permitted to list a party preference.  Under the traditional system of party primaries, still operative in most states, each qualified party, major or minor, is assured that its candidate will appear on the general election ballot under the party’s name. 

For independents like me, top-two is a positive reform because it allows independent voters (who are more often than not barred from party primaries) to fully participate in the electoral process, and it breaks the hold of the parties on the candidate selection process. 

In their efforts to defeat this reform, through the courts and otherwise, Richard and other minor party activists have, in my opinion, allowed themselves to be used by the major parties. The parties, major and minor, have opposed the top-two system.  In California, the Democrats and Republicans decided it was best to allow the minor parties to play the more active role both in the media and in the courts.  And since the adoption of top-two by a substantial majority (53.8 to 46.2 percent) of the voters, the major parties have worked to discover how to use the new system to their advantage, while Richard and the minor parties in California have continued to litigate against it. 

In continuing down this road, they ignored warning signals that they would not only reach a legal dead end, but that there might be adverse financial consequences for lawyer and client alike.  The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld top-two as constitutional, and the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a further challenge after the Supreme Court ruled.  The efforts of Richard and his attorney to enjoin the implementation of top-two also failed.  

The lawsuit in question tried to parlay two minor issues, neither of which had legal merit, into a wholesale attack on the top-two system.  The issues were whether a candidate could list as a party preference only the name of a qualified party, and whether top-two made write-in votes impossible.  By lack of merit, I mean that the Courts had already ruled that neither of these was a constitutional right that state legislation had to respect.  They are questions of public policy, with arguments on both sides.  Furthermore, these alleged defects in top-two can be easily remedied by the legislature. 

Despite all of this, Richard and his lawyer went ahead in their effort to overturn an important pro-democracy reform that the voters of California had supported.  There are lessons here.  They have to do with what you can and can’t accomplish through the courts, and what warning signals you must heed, as an attorney or a litigant, in the electoral arena. 

Perhaps most important, particularly for independents, we must not allow ourselves to be used by the major parties to prop up a partisan political arrangement from which more and more Americans are disaffected.  Did Richard believe his alliance with the major parties would provide legal and financial cover, despite the weakness of his case?  We all have something to learn from these unfortunate events.

Americans Elect Progress in North Carolina and Among Dems

AMERICANS ELECT

• 3rd party nearly on N.C. ballot - Americans Elect will pick its nonpartisan candidate online. (By Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer) A state elections official says Americans Elect appears to have the required signatures to get on the November ballot alongside President Barack Obama and the Republican and Libertarian nominees. The state could certify them in early March.
• Prominent Democrat Endorses Third-Party Group (By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NY Times/ The Caucus) “The country is going to really be in deep trouble if we don’t act soon,” Mr. Boren, who is now president of the University of Oklahoma, said in an interview with The Caucus. “I think this is really a cry from many of us who are really concerned for the future of the country.”
• Third-Party Group Wants Internet to Pick Presidential Candidate: Americans Elect, backed by $5 million from the head of a private investment firm, wants to shake up the two-party system (Rebekah Metzler U.S. News & World Report in Chicago Tribune) "There's really only been one successful third party, and that was the Republican party that came about in the wake and collapse of the old Whig party over the issue of slavery," Smith says. "Good government is not really the kind of an issue that is going to motivate people to drop long-standing ties to the party of their birth, so to speak, and take up with another party that isn't really a party."

Reform Party Going for Utah Ballot, Independents Speak Out

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES, PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS

• Group circulating petitions to get Reform Party on the Utah ballot (By Nkoyo Iyamba, Deseret News) "When Ross Perot ran in 1992, there were two states that he came in second in the polls," said state party organizer Jaime Dives. "One of those states was Maine and the other state was Utah." Dives is circulating petitions to get the Reform Party on the Utah ballot for the 2012 election cycle. She needs 2,000 signatures from registered voters by Feb. 15.
• Political parties challenged to race to register voters (By Lee Davidson, The Salt Lake Tribune) While Republicans and Democrats already have said they plan major voter registration drives this year, Randy Miller, president of the Utah League of Independent Voters, appeared at the news conference to say his group also will push to register more people as unaffiliated voters.
• Libertarian Party of Florida hosting major Presidential Debate in Orlando (Karl Dickey, West Palm Beach Libertarian Examiner) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the US, and is influential in both the Tea Party and Occupy movements due to their strong fiscal conservative positions and socially liberal views.   Polling data indicates that as many as 60% of independent voters consider themselves, “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”

Americans Elect Has 1.9 Million Signatures for Presidential Ballot

AMERICANS ELECT
Nonpartisan group offers US political alternative (By Patricia Zengerle, Reuters) So far, Americans Elect has gathered more than 1.9 million signatures in support of its petition to get on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and raised almost $22 million. "There is a huge receptivity across the board to an independent candidate," Douglas Schoen, Americans Elect's chief strategist, a former adviser to politicians including President Bill Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, told a news conference.

2012
LISTEN: US Wants a 3rd Party Option, but Can't Name a Candidate (Martin Di Caro, WMAL.com) In interviews with WMAL.com, people in downtown DC said they would like a third option come next November, even if they could not name an individual they would like to see run as an Independent.

Americans Elect On Track for Ballot Access Across the Country, 1.9 million signatures collected so far

AMERICANS ELECT:
Nonpartisan group has Plan B for picking president (NANCY BENAC, Associated Press, San Antonio Express News) Americans Elect, whose slogan is "pick a president, not a party," appears to be on track to secure ballot access across the country, with 1.9 million signatures collected so far. But how it will affect the 2012 race depends on what kind of candidate its delegates select in next June's online convention, which will be open to any registered voter... Getting on the ballot in all 50 states isn't all that unusual: The New Alliance Party's Lenora Fulani did in 1988. The Libertarians have done it multiple times. But none of them garnered a big share of the vote.

Efforts Underway in at Least Six States to Lobby for Better Ballot Access Laws in 2012

BALLOT ACCESS
Efforts Underway in at Least Six States to Lobby for Better Ballot Access Laws in 2012 (Ballot Access News) In New York, Harry Kresky has been diligently working for a bill to replace mandatory petitions for candidate ballot access with filing fees. Kresky is chair of the election law committee of the New York County Lawyers Association. That association, as well as the New York City Bar Association, has already approved the idea. Now the work will begin to persuade the State Bar Association, and then to find a sponsor in the legislature.

Democrat Files Petition Challenge Against Independent for Philadelphia City Council Seat

PHILADELPHIA
Cindy Bass files petition challenge against Jim Foster (By Alan Tu, WHYY NewsWorks) All three candidates are running for Councilwoman Donna Reed Mlller's seat. Miller is not running for re-election.

Improved Ballot Access for Third Parties in Tennessee

THIRD PARTY BALLOT ACCESS
Green Party, Constitution Party sue over TN ballot access - New law doesn't address judge's concern of stringent rules, they say (Written by Chas Sisk, The Tennessean) That indicates the requirements are too stringent, U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes Jr. said in a decision released last September. He ordered state lawmakers to pass a new ballot-access law. The legislature did so in May, passing a bill with broad support from Democrats and Republicans. The law removed the requirement that signers declare themselves to be party members, and it gave parties about 15 more days to gather signatures.

Helsinki Accords: Pennsylvania one of the worst places in the world for a free election

ARIZONA REDISTRICTING
Arizona ‘Independent’ Redistricting Commission Picks Leftist Progressive Firm to Map Arizona Lines (By Shane Wikfors, Tucson Citizen/Sonoran Alliance - "with a blatantly conservative worldview")

BALLOT ACCESS

• Nader Pissed About Getting Kicked Off 2004 PA Ballot? He’s Not Alone (Philadelphia Weekly/PhillyNow) In fact, back in 2006, Pennsylvania was called one of the worst places – in the world! – to have a free election, according to the Helsinki Accords. Part of that includes the fact that Republicans and Democrats need 2,000 signatures to get on a statewide ballot while independent and thirty-party candidates are required a fable-worthy 67,070.
• Nader letter criticizes Pa. courts for knocking him off ballot in 2004 (Philly.com) On Monday, Nader publicly released a letter he sent last week to Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille in which he suggested that Pennsylvania courts have undermined democracy by making it very difficult for third-party candidates to gain ballot access. Nader told Castille it is "never too late" to change a bad decision, and warned him that voters "no doubt will take a keen interest" in the case if Castille decides to stand for retention election in 2013.

2012
Top Republican candidates are changing their tone - Presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. are tempering their criticism of President Obama — a strategy political experts say is intended to reach voters beyond the GOP base. (By Seema Mehta and Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times)

Averting Government Shut-Down Pleases Voters

NORTH CAROLINA BALLOT ACCESS
Hearing Set in North Carolina Ballot Access Case (Ballot Access News) Mark Brody argues that he should have been permitted to appear on the 2010 ballot as an independent candidate for state house, with no petition. He had successfully petitioned in 2008 as an independent candidate for the same seat, and had polled 30.6% of the vote.

2012

• Analysis: Obama compromise heeds voter call for conciliation (By Alister Bull, Reuters) Fresh off a White House-brokered budget deal, President Barack Obama's reelection team hopes his intervention can lure back the moderate and independent voters who will be crucial to winning in 2012.
• NYC mayor: Trump can run for president if he wants (AP, Wall Street Journal) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says a Donald Trump presidential candidacy would be great for the news media.

Demographics of Congress Does Not Reflect US Population

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Wide Disparity Between Demographics of Congress & US Popupation (J.E. Robertson, Cafe Sentido) Independent voters often account for much of this disparity, as the composition of the independent (or non-aligned) electorate shifts significantly from one election to the next, and that shift often coincides with higher or lower turnout within the base of electoral support for one of the two parties.

BALLOT ACCESS
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Hawaii Ballot Access Case (Ballot Access News)

2012
The decline of incumbency and the rise of third-party spoilers (Reuters) Suppose Michael Bloomberg — who was a Democrat, and then a Republican, and now is an extremely wealthy Independent — ran a vanity third-party campaign for the White House. He could gain traction as a protest vote for disenchanted Obama supporters. Mr. President, I’d appoint Bloomberg to something important ASAP if I were you.

NEW YORK
WFP Uses Leaked RSA Vid to Push for Clean Elections (By David Freedlander, NY Observer/Politicker) Cuomo has said he is supportive of publicly financed elections as part of a larger ethics push.

Illinois Limits Potential Independent Candidacies

ILLINOIS LIMITS POTENTIAL INDEPENDENT CANDIDACIES
Illinois Bill Advances, Would Limit Who can Be an Independent Candidate (Ballot Access News) If you run in a partisan primary, you could not run in the general as an independent

Open Primaries: Lost Identities?

California anticipates the new open primary next week in special elections. NY State legislature say No to popular vote.

 

PROP 14

• Clock ticking in run for 28th California state senate seat - Issues of identity may hurt some hopefuls. (By Eric Bradley, Press Telegram - Long Beach) California's long-standing special election rules will list all eight candidates on a single ballot. However, under Proposition 14, passed by voters in June, if no candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters regardless of party advance to a runoff on April 19. Faced with the formidable Lieu, some candidates are hoping simply to survive past February, relying on the crowded field of candidates to dilute the vote enough to get to a runoff -- where they contend they have a better opportunity to win.
• Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif., Lisa Vorderbrueggen column (Trading Markets) In the June 2012 open primary, election clerks will be able to send every voter an identical ballot card without regard to party affiliation. Depending on the rules each party adopts with respect to who may vote for the presidential nominees, voters will receive a second ballot card. If the central committees remain on the ballot, election clerks must then send a third, distinct card based on party registration.

BALLOT ACCESS

• Another South Dakota Bill to Move Independent Candidate Petition Deadline from June to April (Ballot Access News) 

PENNSYLVANIA

• After independent switch, Kantner first Schuylkill County row officer not a Democrat or Republican (BY BEN WOLFGANG, Republican Herald) Two weeks ago, the incumbent ditched the Democratic Party, became an independent, and is now gearing up for a potential three-way November General Election. 

NEW YORK

• Pigeon set to take role in election reform effort - Golisano targeting electoral college (By Robert J. McCarthy, Buffalo News) Pigeon also was associated with Golisano’s Responsible New York political committee, which spent $4.4 million on legislative contests around the state in 2008. Seven states have passed legislation in recent years that would accomplish exactly what Golisano is seeking, according to Patrick Rosensteil, spokesman for National Popular Vote, an advocacy group with no connection to Golisano.  

What Prop-14 is all about

As President Obama continues his pursuit of crucial independent swing votes for his 2012 campaign, we have another high-profile potential candidate tossing his name into the mix. Former mayor Rudy Giuliani is pushing for another presidential bid after his disastrous attempt in 2008. High profile politicians aside, I'd like to bring attention to Harry Kresky's article on Proposition 14. He illuminates the misconception that California's "top two" open primary prevents fair access to the ballot. Prop 14 rather provides more opportunities for voters to speak through a more inclusive nominating process. It's a matter of people vs. parties.


INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• President Obama Gains Advantage for Attracting the Independents (Posted by DaveWade, Daily Political) With the tax-cut deal, President Obama managed to move away from his liberal base and at the same time avoid a primary challenge. On the other hand House Speaker Boehner has a tougher task ahead when he must keep a conservation coalition at his back while trying to persuade the independent swing voters.

OPEN PRIMARIES

NOTE: Today's open primary news comes from the blogs

• Understanding Prop 14: It's Not About Ballot Access (By Harry Kresky, The Hankster) In a December 30, 2010 post on his Ballot Access News, Libertarian Richard Winger attacks “leaders of the former New Alliance Party,” for abandoning their commitment to ballot access reform . The “former leaders” are Jacqueline Salit, Lenora Fulani, Cathy Stewart and I, who have been in the forefront of the effort to bring nonpartisan elections, commonly called “Top Two,” to states and municipalities around the country.

• Idaho G.O.P. Seeks to Close Open Primaries (Posted on Audrey Perry's blog Legally Political: Campaign Finance, election and Ethics Law) quotes the NY Times article from this week

• What is Rudy Thinking? (Politics by Beast: An Equal Opportunity Offender, Andrew Carden) Giuliani's campaign would probably focus upon New Hampshire, where there are a decent number of moderate Republicans and Independents (keep in mind, it's an open primary). If Romney's campaign imploded, Giuliani might well be correct - a path might well open up for a more center-right candidate to find success.

NO LABELS

• Lieberman: No Labels Movement Blames Hyperpartisanship as Source of Violence (Firedoglake) Lieberman fielded questions from the movements members for roughly 30 minutes about his relationship to Gifford’s and how to stop this fervent separation of parties.

CALIFORNIA

• State Certifies Candidates for Special Election (By Paul Chavez, Redondo Beach Patch) There were 465,278 registered voters in the 28th District with 48.11 percent registered as Democrats, 24.99 percent Republicans, 2.1 percent American Independents, 0.62 percent Green, 0.58 percent Libertarian, 0.39 percent Peace and Freedom and 22.2 percent declining to state, according to information from the California Secretary of State's office.

NORTH CAROLINA

• Redistricting reforms (Winston Samlem Journal) Gov. Bev Perdue recently suggested that the newly elected Republican legislature establish an independent redistricting commission this year. The GOP should ignore her proposal. The timing isn't right, and even if it were, there's not enough time to do it properly.

COLORADO

• Remembering Ritter: Mix of roasts, toasts (By Leslie Jorgensen, THE COLORADO STATESMAN)

NEW YORK

• State Senate Democrats say “Keep your promise: pass the pledge” (Empire State News) On the first day of State Senate session, Senators designated “Heroes of Reform” by Mayor Ed Koch called on Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Senate leadership today to keep their promise and pass Mayor Koch’s “New York Uprising Heroes of Reform” pledge as the Senate’s first order of business in the New Year.

• Pol's rebel band White Hat Posse is in Cuomo's corner; Gustavo Rivera sworn in BOB KAPPSTATTER Tuesday, January 11th 2011, 4:00 AM NYDaily News

Understanding Prop 14: It's Not About Ballot Access

By Harry Kresky

In a December 30, 2010 post on his Ballot Access News, Libertarian Richard Winger attacks “leaders of the former New Alliance Party,” for abandoning their commitment to ballot access reform . The “former leaders” are Jacqueline Salit, Lenora Fulani, Cathy Stewart and I, who have been in the forefront of the effort to bring nonpartisan elections, commonly called “Top Two,” to states and municipalities around the country.

Top Two eliminates party primaries in favor of a system where there is a first round of voting in which all candidates appear on one ballot and all voters participate on an equal footing, with the top two vote getters going on to the general election.  This past June California voters adopted a Top Two system by referendum over the vehement opposition of the major and minor parties. Mr. Winger played a leading role in the opposition.

Prop 14 Victory Coalition

While we disagree with Richard, and still do, on the merits of Top Two, throughout the process we have been and remain willing to work with him on insuring that ballot access and ballot status rules under Top Two were friendly to minor parties.   In a December 21, 2010 article on Huffington Post, I wrote:

With the litigation winding down, and special elections run under top two just around the corner, it is time for the minor parties to reconsider their relationship to this important reform. The new electoral terrain opening up in our country's most populous state creates possibilities for independents and minor party members to work together to achieve a fairer and more inclusive electoral process.

*        *       *

In this moment of possibility, it is important to remember what independents and minor party members have in common: a recognition that the major parties have too long placed partisan interests over the national interest; a belief that the existing two party arrangement keeps the policy dialogue within too narrow a framework; and a commitment to leveling the electoral playing field.

    The simple fact is this. Top Two is not a ballot access issue. Ballot access is about the opportunity to participate as a candidate in the nominating process. We have and continue to work for ballot access reform, Richard knows this. In fact, in the August 3, 2010 online edition of Ballot Access News he wrote favorably about a reform proposal that I authored being adopted by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in support of a filing fee alternative to New York’s onerous ballot access laws.

    A Top Two system can have lenient ballot access requirements –making it easer for candidates to participate – or stringent ones. However, the general election run off in which the top two primary vote getters compete to determine who is elected to public office, means that the parties lose the right to be sure that their candidates are on the ballot in the second round of voting. This goes to the structure of our electoral process, not the rules for ballot access. It is an issue of how our elections are conducted. We favor easy access to the ballot in round one. We do not, however, favor giving special rights to political parties so that their candidates make it to round two no matter the level of support they have from voters.

    The December 30 post provoked a lively dialogue. There are 68 comments so far, more than the usual 0 to 5. Among those is this thoughtful statement by William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.:

“Out of respect for your knowledge, I won’t dispute what you say about the experiences in other states, such as LA and WA. But I will say this: the only thing that can prevent CA activists from realizing the possibilities given them by Prop 14 is their own concepts and attitudes. If all the activists read this blog and say “Oh shit! Look what we have lost. Nothing can be done,” then guess what? Nothing will be done.

“In your third paragraph you seem to set up this argument: because 3d party candidates now have to pay a [nominal ($950)] filing fee, participation in elections is “far more difficult;” indeed, primaries for them have been “shut down.”

“My message to activists is very different from yours. In my view, Prop 14 has delivered us to Libertarian Heaven.

“From my POV, understanding the gift of Prop 14 requires a re-conceptualization of the old idea of “party.” Putting presidential elections and state wide elections aside, most CA elections are for state Senate and Assembly. Therefore, for these elections, the idea of “party” should be the party-in-the-district (P/D), and not the party-in-the-state (P/S). Every P/D can have its own candidate, because ballot access is open to all. Activists in each district can evaluate what is possible for them. They can do the traditional political activities of organizing and selecting their candidate in their district. There are many tactical possibilities for combining forces and beating major party candidates. The competition is open to all. These activities can be free of control by the central P/S organization; but that does not make the activities “whimsical.”

“The party-in-the-state can still exist for such things as fundraising and defining their ideal agenda. The P/S can allocate resources and volunteers to districts with winning potential. They can abandon districts with little or no potential.”

Harry Kresky is Counsel to IndependentVoting.org

Who's Triangulating Whom?

Let's face it: in order to triangulate, you've gotta have a third element. For my money, I just don't think independents are available for that kind of maneuvering, try as the parties might. That's the very kind of partisan manipulation for "all power to the parties" that independent voters don't  like.


INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Triangulation, Republican-style (By Chris Cillizza, Washington Post/The Fix) Much has been made of the idea that President Obama will use Congressional Democrats as a foil over the next two years -- triangulating against his own side to grab the ideological center and appeal to electorally critical independent voters. But, there's been almost no focus on how potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates may do that same sort of triangulation against the new GOP House majority.
• Victory Alone Does Not a Mandate Make (By MATT BAI, NY Times) Even so, leveling an indictment of government only gets you so far, even when it resonates.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• FIRST ELECTIONS TO BE HELD UNDER "TOP TWO" OPEN PRIMARY (by Damon Eris, CAIVN)

2012

• Sen. Joe Lieberman says he can win re-election (THE STATE COLUMN)

BALLOT ACCESS

• North Carolina Ballot Access Bill Ready for Introduction (Ballot Access News) Newly-elected North Carolina State Representative Stephen LaRoque (R-Kinston) is ready to introduce a ballot access reform bill, as soon as the legislature convenes on January 26

NEW YORK

• Bill Samuels Praises Newly Independent Democrats (By Reid Pillifant, NY Observer/Politicker)
• Senate Dems Bolt Democratic Caucus (By David Freedlander, NY Observer/Politicker) "We are Democrats, but we can no longer in good conscience support the present Democratic leadership," said Senator Jeff Klein, who is leading the new group. He was joined by Diane Savino of Staten Island, upstater David Valesky, and newcomer David Carlucci from the Hudson Valley.

EDUCATION REFORM

• Ed reform and Race to the Top offer chance for improvement (Boston Globe) Now the Patrick administration must use the new law and funds to close the achievement gap between low-income and middle-class students, redeem underachieving schools, and expand school choice in Massachusetts.
• Meaningful Bipartisan School Reform (by Richard Kahlenberg, Century Foundation/Taking Note) If implemented correctly, the conservative idea of school choice can advance the liberal goal of reducing the economic school segregation that lies at the core of our education challenges.
• The Nixon-Obama Compromise (Richard D. Kahlenberg, BOOK REVIEW The New Republic) But the various solutions to improve high poverty schools—more money, charter schools, and federal accountability measures—have not worked. Some liberals, frustrated with integration, argued that “we should concentrate on desegregating the money,” as Derrick Bell put it.
• Not So Fast, Secretary Duncan (The Heritage Foundation/The Foundry) As rumors of an NCLB reauthorization float around, the most important question is: What is the proper role of the federal government in education?

Joelle Riddle: Independent Leader in Colorado Report from the Field, E-Day 2010

Joelle Riddle was one of three full-time La Plata County Colorado Commissioners since winning the election in 2006. Not a newcomer to the political arena and policy making, Riddle was a Young Democrat and then chair of the La Plata County Democratic Party prior to changing her affiliation to "independent" to better serve the people of La Plata County. She was prevented from running for re-election by Colorado state law which imposes a 17-month waiting period for candidates who disaffiliate, a law that she and other nonpartisans challenged in the courts. Riddle was honored this year with an Extraordinary Leader Award during the Women’s Resource Center’s Girls Night Out for her education work with Planned Parenthood, the various constituencies she has represented as a commissioner and founding the independent Voters for Colorado.

Joelle Riddle

E-Day

by JOELLE RIDDLE

Election Day November 2, 2010, turned out to be a very personal experience for me. I knew that this day more than any other would be the beginning of the end as far as my current capacity to serve as an elected official.

It was clear several months ago that I was not going to be on the ballot, having discovered the inequities in Colorado law immediately after changing my affiliation from Democrat to independent (or unaffiliated). It was further affirmed I wasn’t going to be on the ballot after a federal court judge ruled that there would be no changes to the rules set in place by the parties to blatantly advance their candidates and discourage others.

I knew it, but on Election Day I felt it.

Being on the “inside” allowed me to experience the consequences of a broken system and how it fails the people and the issues that are most important to us on a regular basis, day after frustrating day. Until the system changes we won’t have qualified candidates, we won’t solve problems and we won’t regain the public trust. 

It was sobering in a way that I hadn’t imagined as I looked at the list of candidates on the ballot and didn’t see my name, as I had four years earlier. To not win an election is one thing, but to be prevented from even running is another -- very frustrating -- experience all together.

Although I experienced this intense feeling of injustice and frustration (as most independents do at one time or another, I imagine) it was juxtaposed with a very deep sense of relief, a relief that I would no longer have to work within a broken, dysfunctional system. The effects of our partisan politics are felt at every level, and if you are someone that thinks it only affects our elected officials in DC, then think again—it’s thought, felt and ingrained into all levels of our political process, even in our small rural communities, and that’s exactly where we need to start the reform.

I spent the last four years learning and understanding countless processes, participating in numerous local and state boards to advocate for my community, studied issues I had never even heard of prior to taking office. I built relationships based on trust in order to continue to do the best job I could for my community. And really all of that didn’t amount to much in the end as far as the "system" was concerned. Everything boiled down to the fact that I didn’t want to play for just one team; I wanted to work for all of the people, with no biased party labels or preconceived notions. For me it was a natural evolution and a product of my observations and learning.

Being on the “inside” allowed me to experience the consequences of a broken system and how it fails the people and the issues that are most important to us on a regular basis, day after frustrating day. Until the system changes we won’t have qualified candidates, we won’t solve problems and we won’t regain the public trust.

I knew when I made the decision to become an independent that there would be consequences, some rather predictable and others I couldn’t have imagined.

One thing was for certain, independence was the only way forward that would allow me to do the best job I could for the people I was elected to represent.

I have never regretted that decision and it has proven to not only affirm my passion for democracy, it has elevated it to a level that will inspire my work as a grassroots organizer for “Independent Voters for Colorado”.

Although I wasn’t re-elected to office, I know that my commitment to the people in my community is deeper and I am even more determined to help change our government. In the future I want to contribute to a more authentic expression of our democracy; a productive political process and not just a power game for political parties who seem to be concerned for their own “win” as opposed to genuine gains for those whom they purport to serve. I would venture to say that my next Election Day report won’t be fraught with so much frustration, but more of a sense of accomplishment in working with other independents to organize and demand a better democratic process.

Happy Holidays,
Joelle

Joelle Riddle can be reached at UPDATED!! joelleriddle@hotmail.com or (970)799-3720

The American People Did Not Vote for Unyielding Partisanship

"The American people did not vote for gridlock.  They didn't vote for unyielding partisanship. They're demanding cooperation and they're demanding progress.  And they'll hold all of us -- and I mean all of us -- accountable for it." (Barak Obama to Congressional leaders)

President Obama was quoted widely in the press this week "warning" Congressional leaders to come together "or else"...

David Axelrod told Judy Woodruff in an interview on Tuesday: "We have shared responsibilities now as a result of the election. It's very, very important that there be open lines of communication. I'm not going to be Pollyannish about it. There are big differences. That's why we have two parties. But it is important that, where we can find common ground, we do, especially on these fundamental issues like the economy and national security."


The real question is how are the parties able to bully an American President who was elected by a coalition of independents, blacks, progressives and young people? Over 40% of Americans consider themselves independent but 99% of Congress belongs to either the Democratic or Republican parties -- and they literally live by taking in each other's wash.  And, as historian Omar Ali likes to say, "Those Who Make the Rules, Rule". That's why independents are working on structural political reform -- and growing like wild!

And now for the news:

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Joe Scarborough must use the power of civility to save the debt panel report (BY ALEX PAREENEAP, Salon)
• Talk Box: Independents Are Just Waiting to Be Triangulated (NY Magazine)
• Debt-Busting Issue May Force Obama Off Fence (By MATT BAI, NY Times) In truth, though, Mr. Obama has almost invariably sought to position himself halfway between traditionalism and reform, just as his vague notions of “hope” and “change” during the 2008 campaign were meant to appeal simultaneously to both disaffected independent voters and core progressives. And in virtually every case, he has satisfied pretty much no one.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Some GOP Leaders Want Closed Primaries - Crossover Voting A Concern (Reported By Cara Kumari, WSMV - Nashville) Tennessee has open primaries, meaning that voters can choose to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary the day they go to the polls, but some Republican Party leaders want to change that.

BALLOT ACCESS

• Nader Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Hear His Hawaii Ballot Access Case (Ballot Access News) Nader argues that requiring six times as many signatures for an independent presidential candidate than for a new party is not even rational.  The 9th circuit had upheld the law in an unsigned short opinion on September 1, 2010.

NEW YORK

• Helping Build Senate Democrats’ Debt, $6 Million In Outside Consultants And Vendors (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News) The Working Families Party Campaign Committee placed second among the top recipients of DSCC cash, with a $1.1 million haul.
• Bill Samuels Stumps For Redistricting (Dave Lucas, AUDIO, WAMC Northeast Public Radio)  Time is running out for the legislature to approve an amendment to the state Constitution that would create an independent redistricting authority.

EDUCATION REFORM

• Digital Learning Council Releases 'Road Map' to Ed. Overhaul (By Ian Quillen, Education Week)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 6/25/10

INDEPENDENT ROUND-UP: The specter of open primaries has party bosses shaking in their boots. Independent candidates Joelle Riddle and Kathleen Curry in Colorado have been ruled out of bounds by a US District Court Judge.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• A conservative, but not a movement conservative – And that is a Christie asset (BY ALAN J. STEINBERG, New Jersey News Room) Among independent voters, the Governor scored a sixty percent (60%) approval rating in the aforesaid Rasmussen Poll and fifty percent (50%) in the Quinnipiac Poll of June 17. A struggling economy, a rising number of registered independents and a hostile attitude toward incumbent politicians have combined to put at least seven races in play leading up to November.
• National bad mood puts Calif. incumbents at risk (By ROBIN HINDERY Associated Press Writer, Mercury News)
• CNN Poll: Majority angry at both political parties (CNN Political Ticker) The survey indicates that nearly six in ten Independent voters say they are angry at both parties, with only four percent angry only at the GOP and six percent mad only at the Democrats. Just over three in ten say they are not angry at either party. The poll suggests a slight generational divide, with 43 percent of those under age 50 saying they are not mad at either party. That number drops to 15 percent for those 50 and older.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Letter: Commissioner's comments show lack of respect for the voters (LETTER TC Palm) Open primaries are a new concept in Florida. They should only be used to determine election winners in unique circumstances; after all other candidate options have been exhausted. 
• Guest Columnists — Registrars offer primary reminder (Written by George Cody and Robert Shafter, New Canaan Advertiser) The important caveat to remember is that unaffiliated voters must enroll in the party holding the primary of their choice.

BALLOT ACCESS

• Maryland Removes Independent Party from Ballot (Ballot Access News) The Independent Party became ballot-qualified in 2008.  It was formed by supporters of Ralph Nader for president.
• Cohen May Face Court, Not Ballot Challenge (By Benjamin Yount, Illinois Statehouse News, Fox News) “We have conflicting court cases out there, and the question is can a person run in a party primary and then for whatever reason the person {would} resign from that nomination and then run as an independent…And this is probably one reason that Gov. Quinn and others are considering going the judicial route to challenge Mr. Cohen.”

GOV/ STATE/ MIDTERM RACES

• One Small Thing, to Dave Weigel (Posted by kowalski, RedState.com) Ron Paul comes dangerously close to being their Lenora Fulani, which is one of the reasons I don’t much like Ron Paul.
• Political Scene: Both state parties prepare to endorse candidates (By Katherine Gregg, Randal edgar, Steve Peoples and john mulligan, Providence Journal State House Bureau)
• Major parties increasingly wary of third-party governor candidates (Washington Post/The Fix)

COLORADO

• Curry must go write-in route (By The Denver Post)
• Riddle loses lawsuit, won't seek re-election (by Garrett Andrews, Durango Herald)
• U.S. District Court Upholds Ballot Access Restriction for 2010 Even Though Legislature Already Repealed it for the Future (Ballot Access News) Click here for the decision

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Charter Recommendations (Gotham Gazette) Earlier this week, the Women’s City Club, a long-time civic group, weighed in on two of the biggies — term limits and nonpartisan elections — and came out against both.

LAST WORD

• Self-funded candidates can't always buy success, research shows (By Anne Bauer, Seattle Post Globe)