Why you should care
The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition in seeking more choices for all of us on Election Day. Current Pennsylvania law makes it difficult for independent and minor party candidates to appear on the ballot — much more difficult than in most other states. The result is less political competition, less political dialog, and fewer choices to vote for in November. The current system is simply not fair and does a great disservice to the ideal of democracy and to the voters. What you can do about it.
The trainwreck of 2006
In 2006, independent and minor party candidates were required to collect over 67,000 valid signatures simply to get on the state-wide ballot in Pennsylvania on Election Day. Legally, Democratic and Republican candidates require no signatures to get on the state-wide ballot, and even the 2,000 signatures required for the Primary Day ballot are ridiculously smaller than the virtually impossible hurdle of 67,000.
The solution
Pennsylvania law needs to be changed by the State Legislature to lower the outrageous signature requirements. The Coalition has drafted a Voters' Choice Act and is seeking sponsorship of it in the General Assembly.
Rep. Folmer Introduces Voters' Choice Act
Legislation removes unfair election barriers to non-major party candidates
HARRISBURG - Senator Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) today introduced the Voters' Choice Act (VCA), which removes the Commonwealth's unfair hurdles that obstruct ballot access for independent and minor party candidates for public office."No state makes it tougher to get on the ballot than Pennsylvania, as independent and minor party candidates face significantly more difficult barriers than Republicans and Democrats," Folmer said. "My bill would enhance our democratic process by leveling the playing field."
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Ballotgate State laws governing ballot access are scandalous
by Lowman S. Henry, CEO and Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion ResearchA subplot to the Bonusgate scandal is the ongoing drama of what state Democrats did to prevent Ralph Nader and his Green Party from gaining a spot on the 2004 Presidential Election ballot. Attorney General Tom Corbett's investigation has uncovered a systemic effort by House Democratic employees to frustrate Nader's ballot drive - all allegedly at taxpayer expense.
Keeping Nader off the ballot was a top priority for state Democrats in 2004. President Bush and the Democratic Party nominee U.S. Senator John Kerry were running neck-and-neck in the polls. Nader posed a threat to Kerry by virtue of his appeal to ultra-left wing Democrats who might have voted in sufficient numbers for Nader to deny Kerry a win in Pennsylvania.
House Democratic staffers are alleged to have submitted fraudulent petitions on Nader's behalf - petitions ultimately challenged in court and tossed from consideration. They also stand accused of working on taxpayer time to comb through Nader's petitions finding signatures which could be disqualified by the courts. Democrats succeeded both in keeping Nader off the ballot and in winning the state for Kerry.
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Major party politicians in Pennsylvania didn't just abuse the voters by unconstitutionally raising their own pay in the middle of the night &mdash they created and continue to support laws that virtually eliminate political competition and deprive you of real choices. In 2006, third-party and independent candidates for state-wide office were each required to raise over 67,000 signatures to get on the ballot. By comparison, Republican and Democratic candidates are always automatically on the November ballot, and individual major party candidates need to raise just 2,000 signatures to gain entrance to their party primary elections.
None of the state-wide candidates attempting to challenge the Dem-Rep duopoly made it onto the ballot. Only one candidate submitted enough signatures, and he was eliminated by technicalities and fined heavily, clearly ignoring the will of thousands of signers, as the Democratic lawyer openly admitted during signature review.
As a result, all state-wide challenger candidates had been forced to run write-in campaigns. These candidates and their parties are prepared to sue to make sure that in the future, every write-in vote is counted, as is legally required, but typically ignored.
Read their letter to the PA Department of State.
Candidates in Pennsylvania, 2008
Sick of out-of-touch, pay-raise-hiking Democrats and Republican politicians?
The following independent and third-party candidates can be counted on to support the Voters' Choice Act and to champion real democracy in Pennsylvania. We need more choices and more voices, but free and open elections are not in the interests of either of the old party organizations. There are a small handful of principled old party politicians and candidates who support real choices for voters; ask your candidate or representative if he or she supports the PBAC's Voters' Choice Act. If your state representative supported the unconstitutional pay raise, please do yourself and Pennsylvania a favor, and vote for someone else.
| Office | District | Candidate | Web Site | Ballot / write-in |
Green Party | ||||
US House of Representatives | 14 | Titus North | ||
State House of Representatives | 111 | Jay Sweeney | ||
Independent | ||||
President | USA | Ralph Nader/ | ||
Site last updated » March 4, 2008 «