Across the country most Democrat and Republican candidates are automatically on the ballot or have very minimal petitioning requirements. This is despite the fact that nearly a third of all voters identify themselves as unaffiliated with Republicans or Democrats. In New York State third-party candidates need to meet requirements three or four times higher than Democrats and Republicans.
Of course voters affiliated with third parties are likely to say the system unfairly discourages third-party challenges but we are not alone. According to Rasmussen polling 63% of likely US voters agree the system is gamed to discourage third-party runs. Only 24% disagree.
59% think Democrats and Republicans should be subject to the same petitioning requirements as third-party candidates. A whopping 73% of unaffiliated voters agree.
In Rasmussen’s words
perhaps this explains why less than half (44%) of voters consider American elections fair. Nearly as many (39%) say they are not fair to voters.… As recently as last September only 43% felt elections are fair, down from a high of 54% in September 2004.
Rasmussen finds that 56% of Republicans believe US elections are generally fair to voters while only 42% of both Democrats and unaffiliated voters agree.
Here’s some video from Scott Rasmussen. Please pardon the 15 seconds or so of advertisement. I didn’t see a way to get rid of it.
Why would Americans sit back and allow themselves to be cheated out of fair elections?
New York’s ballot access restrictions are some of the most severe in the country. This is one of the most important ways the establishment incumbents protect their power and deny you the right to vote for alternatives you choose.
In New York State we have an opportunity right now to take action to make this election fairer by giving voters choices other than the Democrats and Republicans. You can help make this election fairer by contributing to and volunteering for our ballot access petitioning drive.
Donate to the New York State ballot access effort here.
Volunteer to help us gather signatures here