PLEASE look for our new site coming soon. Senator Folmer Introduces Voters’ Choice Act Legislation removes unfair election barriers to non-major party candidates HARRISBURG – An Act amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, in party organization, further providing for definition of political parties and political bodies; and, in nomination of candidates, further providing for nominations by minor political parties and for nominations by political bodies. The bill reads: The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: The Commonwealth’s election laws hinder the entry into the electoral process of independent candidates, thereby limiting the electoral choices available to voters of this Commonwealth. The political system of the Commonwealth should be electorally inclusive in order to promote the broadest range of issue discussion and candidate selection… Read More. Ballotgate State laws governing ballot access are scandalous by Lowman S. Henry, CEO and Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research A subplot to the Bonusgate scandal is the ongoing drama of what state Democrats did to prevent Ralph Nader and his Green Party from gaining a spot on the 2004 Presidential Election ballot. Attorney General Tom Corbett’s investigation has uncovered a systemic effort by House Democratic employees to frustrate Nader’s ballot drive – all allegedly at taxpayer expense. Keeping Nader off the ballot was a top priority for state Democrats in 2004. President Bush and the Democratic Party nominee U.S. Senator John Kerry were running neck-and-neck in the polls. Nader posed a threat to Kerry by virtue of his appeal to ultra-left wing Democrats who might have voted in sufficient numbers for Nader to deny Kerry a win in Pennsylvania. House Democratic staffers are alleged to have submitted fraudulent petitions on Nader’s behalf – petitions ultimately challenged in court and tossed from consideration. They also stand accused of working on taxpayer time to comb through Nader’s petitions finding signatures which could be disqualified by the courts. Democrats succeeded both in keeping Nader off the ballot and in winning the state for Kerry. Read More
Major party politicians in Pennsylvania didn’t just abuse the voters by unconstitutionally raising their own pay in the middle of the night &mdash they created and continue to support laws that virtually eliminate political competition and deprive you of real choices. In 2006, third-party and independent candidates for state-wide office were each required to raise over 67,000 signatures to get on the ballot. By comparison, Republican and Democratic candidates are always automatically on the November ballot, and individual major party candidates need to raise just 2,000 signatures to gain entrance to their party primary elections.
None of the state-wide candidates attempting to challenge the Dem-Rep duopoly made it onto the ballot. Only one candidate submitted enough signatures, and he was eliminated by technicalities and fined heavily, clearly ignoring the will of thousands of signers, as the Democratic lawyer openly admitted during signature review.
As a result, all state-wide challenger candidates had been forced to run write-in campaigns. These candidates and their parties are prepared to sue to make sure that in the future, every write-in vote is counted, as is legally required, but typically ignored.
Read their letter to the PA Department of State.
Candidates in Pennsylvania, 2008
Sick of out-of-touch, pay-raise-hiking Democrats and Republican politicians?
The following independent and third-party candidates can be counted on to support the Voters’ Choice Act and to champion real democracy in Pennsylvania. We need more choices and more voices, but free and open elections are not in the interests of either of the old party organizations. There are a small handful of principled old party politicians and candidates who support real choices for voters; ask your candidate or representative if he or she supports the PBAC’s Voters’ Choice Act. If your state representative supported the unconstitutional pay raise, please do yourself and Pennsylvania a favor, and vote for someone else.
| Office | District | Candidate | Web Site | Ballot / write-in |
Green Party | ||||
|
US House of Representatives |
14 |
Titus North | ||
|
State House of Representatives |
111 |
Jay Sweeney | ||
Independent | ||||
|
President |
USA |
Ralph Nader/ Matt Gonzalez | ||