Justin Amash: 'Straight-Ticket Voting Makes it Prohibitive to Run Outside of the Major Parties' - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Matt Welch:
August 30, 2018 - "The Libertarian Party of New Mexico has joined the state Republican Party's lawsuit to block yesterday's decision to reinstate the 'straight ticket' ballot option. With straight-ticket voting, [registered party voters] can choose a political party's entire slate of candidates by filling in just one blank.
"Critics have derided the move as a brazen attempt by an elected Democrat in a heavily Democratic state to blunt a historic challenge by the Libertarian Party's U.S. Senate candidate, Gary Johnson.... New Mexico L.P. Chair Chris Luchini called the change an 'abuse of power via executive fiat'....
"The move was also criticized by Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian Republican, who serves in one of the nine straight-party states in the country. 'Straight-ticket voting makes it prohibitive to run outside of the major parties,' Amash told me....
"Libertarians, independents, and other third-party candidates face a blizzard of obstacles in getting on ballots, into polls, and onto debate stages. Straight-ticket states add the wrinkle of simplifying the voting process for their major-party competitors, particularly in down-ballot races. Registered Libertarians in New Mexico are outnumbered 66 to 44 to 1 by Democrats and Republicans, respectively, while the 22 percent of registered voters there without a party affiliation have to go through the trouble of selecting each candidate rather than voting just once for their entire team....
"New Mexico Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver, who made the decision to reinstate straight-ticket voting, is running for re-election against Republican nominee Gavin Clarkson. In a statement today, Clarkson pointed out that [Oliver is] reversing a legislated repeal of the practice that was signed into law by none other than Gary Johnson....
"'Maggie Toulouse Oliver's unilateral and likely illegal straight-party ballot decree is an attack on our democracy and the rule of law. Sadly this act of voter suppression is just another cynical example of the abuse of power in the service of extreme partisanship....
"'Straight-party voting was repealed in 2001 by a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor, Gary Johnson. Specifically, House Bill 931 repealed Section 1-9-4 of the Election Code, which permitted each voter 'to vote a straight party ticket in one operation.' That was the only law authorizing straight party voting in New Mexico, and it has been gone for nearly two decades.
"Since then, the people's elected representatives in the legislature have refused to reinstate it..... Legally speaking, the Secretary of State simply doesn't have the authority to unilaterally make laws, especially against the expressed will of the legislative branch as she is now attempting to do.'"
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/08/30/justin-amash-straight-ticket-voting-make
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August 30, 2018 - "The Libertarian Party of New Mexico has joined the state Republican Party's lawsuit to block yesterday's decision to reinstate the 'straight ticket' ballot option. With straight-ticket voting, [registered party voters] can choose a political party's entire slate of candidates by filling in just one blank.
"Critics have derided the move as a brazen attempt by an elected Democrat in a heavily Democratic state to blunt a historic challenge by the Libertarian Party's U.S. Senate candidate, Gary Johnson.... New Mexico L.P. Chair Chris Luchini called the change an 'abuse of power via executive fiat'....
"The move was also criticized by Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian Republican, who serves in one of the nine straight-party states in the country. 'Straight-ticket voting makes it prohibitive to run outside of the major parties,' Amash told me....
"Libertarians, independents, and other third-party candidates face a blizzard of obstacles in getting on ballots, into polls, and onto debate stages. Straight-ticket states add the wrinkle of simplifying the voting process for their major-party competitors, particularly in down-ballot races. Registered Libertarians in New Mexico are outnumbered 66 to 44 to 1 by Democrats and Republicans, respectively, while the 22 percent of registered voters there without a party affiliation have to go through the trouble of selecting each candidate rather than voting just once for their entire team....
"New Mexico Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver, who made the decision to reinstate straight-ticket voting, is running for re-election against Republican nominee Gavin Clarkson. In a statement today, Clarkson pointed out that [Oliver is] reversing a legislated repeal of the practice that was signed into law by none other than Gary Johnson....
"'Maggie Toulouse Oliver's unilateral and likely illegal straight-party ballot decree is an attack on our democracy and the rule of law. Sadly this act of voter suppression is just another cynical example of the abuse of power in the service of extreme partisanship....
"'Straight-party voting was repealed in 2001 by a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor, Gary Johnson. Specifically, House Bill 931 repealed Section 1-9-4 of the Election Code, which permitted each voter 'to vote a straight party ticket in one operation.' That was the only law authorizing straight party voting in New Mexico, and it has been gone for nearly two decades.
"Since then, the people's elected representatives in the legislature have refused to reinstate it..... Legally speaking, the Secretary of State simply doesn't have the authority to unilaterally make laws, especially against the expressed will of the legislative branch as she is now attempting to do.'"
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/08/30/justin-amash-straight-ticket-voting-make
'via Blog this'
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