Issues: Why I am running for Connecticut Secretary of the State

I want your vote on November 7, 2006 for the office of CT Secretary Of The State (SOTS). This elected office is one of the most powerful positions in state government. The SOTS is responsible for elections, incorporation of businesses in CT, commercial recording, publication of statues, and other important state record keeping and other informational functions. Here are some of my proposals for a more effective SOTS office: 

1. FREE AND ACCURATE ELECTIONS
2. FAIR ELECTIONS
3. FAIR REPRESENTATION

1. FREE AND ACCURATE ELECTIONS

• Voter Verifiable Paper Trail System

• Open Debates

• Same Day Voter Registration

• Free TV and Radio Time For Candidates

Connecticut, like every state in the US, needs a VOTER VERIFIABLE PAPER TRAIL SYSTEM: Every vote counts only when every vote is counted.

Note: Mike DeRosa one of the founders of CT VOTER (CT Voter Opportunity Through Election Reform). VOTER is the first group to work for a Voter Verifiable Paper Trail bill (VVPT) in CT. VOTER successfully, in alliance with other groups, lobbied and passed one of strongest VVPT laws in the U.S. It requires that every vote cast on a computerized voting machine or other voting machine device, create a paper ballot that is approved by the voter and secured in a locked box for later examination.

No Repeats of Florida and Ohio

During the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections we saw how the Secretary of the State in Florida and Ohio put their political party’s vested interest before the will of the people. The creation of phony felony lists, the manipulation of voting devices in Florida, and general election fraud led to the election of George W. Bush in 2000. The lack of voting machines in urban areas, the manipulation of the election law and voting devices, and other felonies in Ohio in 2004 allowed the reelection of our present president. Unpunished election fraud anywhere in the U.S. enables and encourages partisan players in other states to engage in these illegal activities. If VVPT machines had been used in the 2000 and 2004 elections many of the voter frauds that occurred in FL and OH and other states would not have happened.

TOP

2. FAIR ELECTIONS: More choices and more candidates mean fair elections.

• Real Campaign Finance Reform

• Instant Runoff Elections

• Proportional Representation In The CT General Assembly

• Tool Box of Democracy: Referendum, Initiative, and Recall

Real Campaign Finance Reform, Not Deform

The two party duopoly of Connecticut has created a finance “reform” system that discriminates against minor parties and independent candidacies. Recently, the Green Party of CT, the ACLU-CT, and numerous other plaintiffs and other parties are challenging the recently passed CT Campaign Finance Law in the U.S. Federal Court. Under this law, no third party candidate can qualify for campaign funding unless the party candidate for the same office won at least 10% of the vote in the prior election, or the candidate gathers the signatures of 10% to 20% of the people who voted in the last election (10% gets you one third of money given to major party candidates getting a government grant, 15% gets you fifty percent of the money, and 20% gives you a government grant equal to the major party candidate) The major parties are exempt from this requirement under this law. The major parties also receive substantial funding for primaries whereas third parties receive none. Under other provisions of this law, the Green Party, along with all the other major and minor parties, would also have to gather a large number of small donations in order qualify for funding under this law. The two requirements that third party candidates must meet are too high.

We consider this law an act of blatant discrimination against third parties and independent candidacies. We believe that this law is unjust and unconstitutional. It violates the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the 1st amendment, and many other rulings by U.S. courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. To put it another way: The two major parties in CT believe that all parties are equal in CT but some parties are more equal than others.

The onerous requirements in this law stack the deck against third parties and make it almost impossible for Green party candidates to receive campaign funding.

The Connecticut legislators who drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and unequal. They also knew that it would protect incumbency by giving a virtual monopoly of campaign funding to the two party system. Some of us in the Green party call this legislation the No Incumbent Left Behind System.

Elections in our opinion are supposed to increase political discourse, give voters more choices, and introduce new ideas into the political system. That is what politics and campaigns are all about. In our opinion this CT law is not campaign finance reform, it is campaign finance deform. Some would even call it the Prevention Of Politics Law.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV): A Fair Way To Run Winner -Take- All- Elections

In CT’s 2000 presidential election over 11% of the voters, according to some polls, wanted to vote for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. They liked his program and platform but around 8% decided on election day to vote for someone else who they thought had a better chance of winning over someone who they did not want to win. Part of the answer to this dilemma is Instant Runoff Voting. 

How IRV works:

Every voter has one vote and he or she ranks candidates in order of choice (1,2,3,etc)(for Example: #1 choice is candidate X, #2 is Y, #3 is Z). The counting of ballots creates an instant run-off election. All voter’s first choices are counted, and if no candidate wins a majority of first choices, then the last place candidate is eliminated. Ballots of voters who ranked the eliminated candidate first then are redistributed to their next-choice candidates, as shown on each ballot cast. Last place candidates are eliminated and ballot choices are redistributed to the next choice until one candidate remains or a candidate gains over 50% of votes.

Advantages to IRV:

1. Voters can vote for the candidate and program that they want but avoid the “lesser or two evils” voting pattern by voting for a 2nd and 3rd choice. 

2. It saves money by eliminating a complete run-off second election at a later date and captures voter turnout when it is largest.

3. It helps to foster positive campaigning and it allows parties to register and document their true strength among the electorate.

Communities and nations using IRV now: San Francisco CA., Cambridge MA, The parliament in Australia, and the Presidents of the Republic of Ireland.

TOP

3. FAIR REPRESENTATION

Proportional Representation In The CT General Assembly: 

The Fairest Way To Give Every Minor Party A Voice In The Legislature

We have all heard of the winner take all electoral system. But if freedom and democracy means anything it means the right to disagree with the majority. Minority views are not only good for the CT General Assembly(CTGA), they are absolutely essential if new ideas and new solutions are to find their way into our government and into our legislature. 

Our elections are controlled by the major parties that are wholly owned subsidies of big corporations and the power elite of our state. We are ruled by the golden rule. Those who have the gold make the rules.

We are also ruled by the monopoly rule. The two most popular parties have a monopoly on representative in the CTGA. 

With a few notable exceptions, the two major parties believe in basically the same thing. They believe in the global economy that is an economic, social, political, and cultural race to the bottom. They see Connecticut as an integral clog in this dysfunctional global economy. The two parties believe in continuous war and a continuous warfare state. The two major parties believe in crony capitalism at its worse. The Two major parties talk a lot about global warming, alternative fuels, and environmental protection but they either ignore these issues or they are unwilling to invest significant amounts of state money or brain power into real solutions to our environmental problems or alternatives to a carbon based energy system.

One of the ways we can new ideas and new legislation passed in the CTGA is to allow minor parties entrance using proportional representation.

TOP