I agree with both sides on this issue. The school board may not be best
served by the current system of party endorsement in nonpartisan campaigns.
But the worst possible option is to expect voters to make a decision on too
little information. Party endorsement is a quick values-methods reference
for voters to use to make a somewhat educated decision. If we want to move
away from this current half-measure, we may have to think creatively. I've
thought about this for a while now, ever since I chose to leave the judge
portion of my 2000 ballot empty, rather than making decisions based on
gender and incumbency, the only two pieces of information I had. A few
options:
1) Change the electoral laws to make room for numerous small, well-defined
political parties, rather than continuing the dominance of two "big-tent"
parties. If party label can become a more specific description of the
values of the candidate, voters will be better able to make well-informed
decisions based on party endorsement. During the last election, RT compared
Minneapolitans' views about DFLers to Eskimos' views about snow; they come
in every color and flavor. I agree with him, but I don't think it's a
particularly good thing. Democracy, like language, works best when the most
specific terms are used.
This option is probably the most difficult to pursue. It would require
changes to the Minnesota constitution to elect at least a portion of our
legislators proportionally and use IRV to elect our single-seat officials
(Governor, Secretary of State, etc.)
2) We could provide local candidates with a certain amount of space -
something like three short lines - to summarize the reasons they think they
are the right choice for the position for which they're running. A
candidate could outline their priorities, values, experience, party
affiliation, or whatever info they think makes their case most strongly.
This would, in my opinion, limit the influence of parties, increase voter
participation in smaller, less-known races, and ensure a higher accuracy of
representation.
A few questions: could we as a city change our ballot this way unilaterally?
If so, which races would be covered? Could we offer these three lines to
judges, county commissioners, legislative candidates, or candidates for
statewide office?
Robin Garwood
Seward
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