This is a bad idea for several reasons. The main reason is you don’t want a partisan primary race with a non-partisan race it’s confusing to voters.
Secondly the reason they’re pushing this is because Republicans in the state want to control all the nonpartisan offices like school boards, county commissions, city commissions, etc. So what they’re trying to do is get people to vote in the primaries for non-partisan races because most of those people will be Republicans.
Why?
Because independents cannot vote in their primary and neither can Democrats. Independents can only vote in Democratic primaries so another words Independents and Democrats likely wouldn’t show up to these elections which would guarantee conservative leaning candidates in the non-partisan races. It’s an old hat trick the Repugs have been playing for years.
More candidates and initiatives aren’t going to drive voter participation, government engagement will. If we had open and transparent government in Sioux Falls we would have more voter participation. I am predicting around 5,000 voters will show up on Tuesday, I have some local politicos telling me it is closer to 3,000 voters.
I think the voters are sending a message by NOT voting. We don’t care, because you don’t care.
Poops PAC sent out this postcard today (Jordan’s flyer is also attached in the photo, because I like it 🙂 even though we can’t have public restrooms DTSF because certain people use them to fornicate and intoxicate). Paul seems to miss the point, the public isn’t engaged because you don’t engage them. It really is that simple.
And if you were going to spend all this money to send out a postcard and highlight Thomason’s platform as for the reason to vote, why not just send out an endorsement postcard? I even wonder if Thomason knew about it?
What struck me was how it looked like a Mike Huether campaign postcard. Are these two hanging out? God help us!
People don’t run. People don’t vote. Races have become too expensive and most city council votes are 8 to 0 or 7 to 1. Gee, I wonder why people don’t vote in city elections any more?
( and Woodstock adds: “Wow, I really thought the recent advocacy by members of the city council to make candy throwing legal again at city parades would have brought out more voters”….. )
Tell me more about this candy-throwing at city parades. Does it have to be underhanded only, or will you be allowed to throw overhanded as well? I mean, let’s say you used to be a pitcher for a minor league team and you have a pretty good arm, would it be okay to shoot one across the street at someone you see that you don’t like, but then just blame it on the Masons or whoever is parading down the street at the time like the College Republicans or a Tea Party type group?
I can’t help but think that the patchwork nature of the spring electoral calendar is a factor in apathy of voters. Election Day becomes election days (lower case letters purposeful to underscore diminished significance and importance) as municipal elections are separated from school board elections which are separated from municipal run-off elections which are separated from county, state and federal primary elections.
I do agree that another factor in voter apathy is the lack of accesible, open and transparent governance at all levels. I would rather describe the symptom as, “We don’t care because it doesn’t matter. When we prevail at the ballot box, the state legislature simply acts in next legislative session to overturn the result anyway.”
i’m probably wrong, but poops is crying about voter turnout because his boy didn’t get 50% plus one the first time. a lower turnout might help jordan.
The Republicans created the 22nd Amendment to prevent another Roosevelt. Actually, what it really did, however, was prevent Reagan from getting a third term.
Now, speed forward to more contemporaneous times, where the local establishment (Mostly Republicans and conservatives) changed the local city charter so that it is now required to have 50+% of the vote to win a seat on the council. So, then what happens? Well, an establishment candidate, because of that rule change, is now forced into a run-off against a well-organized anti-establishment candidate…. Oh, the continual irony… #BeCarefulWhatUWish4
Maybe he should ask why his 30+ communications and “culture” director and staff can’t communicate well enough about the elections