Modest Proposal for 11-01 . . . An Informed Electorate

November 1, 2018 by jalp5dai 1 Comment

(My apologies for the interruption in service . . . but I’m back now.)

The Secretary of State apparently still doesn’t think we the voters need to know who’s running as declared write-in candidates. So her staff isn’t directing local clerks to have lists posted at polling places – even though every precinct has to have a list of the declared write-ins, so poll-workers know whose votes to count and whose to ignore. (Which also means giving us this information could save those poll-workers some time at the end of the night.)

 

Anyway, I’ve managed to wheedle information out of the Bureau of Elections and the clerks of Calhoun and Kalamazoo Counties . . . enough to offer this list of who has filed a Declaration of Intent to be an official write-in candidate for any office whose constituency covers any part of those two counties. Unfortunately for voters who are dissatisfied with the choices (at least the ones they’ve heard about in the media), there’s not much contact information for them. But if you have or find out some contact info, please share it with me and I’ll do my best to update my list and share it with everybody else.

https://jalp5dai.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/write-in-candidates-for-2018-general-election.pdf

Or if you prefer a shorter (though less direct) link:

https://wp.me/a4Avdc-3a

But getting back to that first link (to Section 668a of the Election Code) . . . what is necessary information?  Many precincts, if not all by now, have voter lists computerized.  Perhaps we could give each polling place another computer with links to public voter information on it:  lists of write-ins would qualify, but so would campaign-finance reports from all candidates, on or off the ballot – and maybe some personal-finance reports too, if our Legislature ever gets around to requiring them.

What other information would you consider necessary if you were the Secretary of State?