[Election-Methods] Partisan Politics

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Evening, Dave

re: "In New York, at least, the two major parties each do such as 
appoint half the members of the Boards of Elections." and also in regard 
to the related comments about "party leadership", "party activities", 
"party business", "state party", and "county organizations".

To me, this says "the structure of government" and the "responsibilities 
of voters" are what the parties say they are. I think that degree of 
control is pretty much the same in all the states.

Ought we not question such an arrangement?  Nothing in our Constitution 
grants such rights to political parties, yet they dictate all of our 
political activity.  Do we see nothing wrong with that?  Is that not, 
indeed, the cause of our political system's failure?  Have we become so 
accustomed to partisan dictatorship that we can't see how destructive it is?


re: "In at least most states electors are not directed by their party 
but by party members in elections and/or caucuses."

Yes.  But what is the rationale for a few of our citizens ... the 
so-called "party faithful" ... dictating the actions of people who are 
supposed to, after they study "such candidates as become visible to 
them, do their voting."


re: "You start with the size of legislature desired.  If legislators 
should each represent about 750, multiply my numbers by 10."

That's fine.  The question I'm interested in, though, is how the 
legislators are selected.  Who names the candidates?  Would we not be 
better off finding a way to select them from among ourselves?  In what 
way do we benefit by having them named by people who can control their 
votes?


re: "You had mentioned pr, so I propose THE VOTERS organizing themselves 
into the right size districts with no boundaries"

We have no means for the voters to organize themselves.  The parties 
define the districts.  It's called gerrymandering.  It is an example of 
how the parties control our political process.  These are the grave 
inequities we must find a way to correct.

We can count the votes any way we like.  As long as the parties control 
the process, we will lose.

Fred