The Daily Herald’s Jim Davis wrote an opinion piece criticizing the cost of holding township primary elections.
It’s an easy hit on politicians.
Hey. Nobody voted.
So, divide the number of people voting into the cost of the election and the result is a high price per vote.
That, of course, is the fault of the politicians.
After reading his article, I sent Davis this email:
“As the House sponsor of the twp primary bill, I really wonder at your line of logic about abolishing that option in the name of saving money.
“Why not just let the party leaders select who will be on the ballot in November general elections, too?
“Where do you draw the line on encouraging democracy?
At 22, Melissa Sanchez will be the youngest township official in McHenry County.
“Do you really think a 22-year old, just-graduated-from-college Melissa Sanchez would have been selected by party leaders to be the Republican candidate in McHenry County’s largest township, Algonquin?”I don’t.
“Why should every place but Cook County elect individual precinct committeemen, rather than have precinct captains appointed by the local party boss?
“Waste of space on the ballot, wouldn’t you say?
“Maybe you would say it’s too much democracy.
“I would argue the lack of such local precinct level elections in Chicago has thwarted the chance of minorities to take power in an incremental process, delaying the taking of power from white politicians until the voter majority was overwhelming.
“Dictatorships often save money by never having an election.
“But that’s a cheap shot.
“The real question is where you would draw the line?”
Now, if Davis had suggested cutting down the number of judges from two in the majority party and one in the minority party, I would have supported such an idea.
Maybe next time he will.
And it’s not that I haven’t bemoaned the low voter turnout. Consider what happened in Algonquin Township.
4.6% voter turnout.
I only managed to interest 7.8% of the voters in Algonquin’s 7th precinct to vote in the Republican primary election.
Quite disappointing but not a reason to abolish elections in favor of party caucuses that would have even fewer participants.
How about some more facts and not just philosophy about primary vs. caucus for township elections?
Just how much money is involved?
Just what is the cost per vote?
And what are some of the ways of improving the system that keeps both a primary and a caucus option?
And isn’t the reality of the matter that it is often a game of primary roulette.
The township party chooses a primary and then if only the number of candidates allowed file for said primary, there is no primary for those offices.
That means that the candidates are chosen just by the relatively few people who signed their petitions. That makes them chosen by a few….
Larry Emery and Melissa Sanchez spent next to nothing.
And since when does liberty worry about how much a vote costs?
And since when does freedom worry about entrenched politicians?
And since when does democracy worry about party leaders placing people on the ballot?
Your last paragraph is truly befuddling. In the case of Algonquin Township, we had seven qualified candidates run for four trustee positions. I contend the best four won as determined by the process we call democracy.
Moreover, our candidates were NOT chosen by the party leadership. We did not have a single meeting about candidates for the primary. Precinct committeemen were free to chose who to work for and who not to work for… or not work at all.
Just because the voter base, particularly the Republican voter base, is apathetic as all hell does not mean we need to change the system. Maybe we just need new candidates to energize our party.
Signing my name to it so I can fire up the party even more,
Andrew Gasser
oops choose not chose
Yea Kathy, you should know all about that!
You know, kind of the way you and Tom Cynor pulled off your little “Caucus” ploy in 2008, to bypass the primary as you and the ‘chosen few’ local Democrats slid Cynor onto the ballot against Mr. Bianchi?
You’re were you belong Kathy……Best you get out your history book on your own actions.