What has the New York Democrat Primary go to do with me?

Why vote, the State has Chosen For You

Those of you who know me are probably aware that I am a Libertarian.  I believe that the rights of an individual are supposed to be protected (not granted) by the state.

You are born free to do with your life as you choose.  If you infringe on another person's rights, you must be accountable for your actions.  More often than not, agents of the state are tasked with enforcing orders that infringe your rights and they tend to do so with little chance of being held accountable.

Here is a link to an article in "The Guardian", In this article US district judge Analisa Torres wrote that the state had deprived voters of their constitutional guarantee of freedom of association. New York voters, she said, weren’t just voting for a presidential candidate, but also for delegates who could influence the direction of the Democratic National Convention in August.

You can read more in the link above but in essence this decision appears to indicate that a state restricting the right of a citizen to vote for whom he wishes and to have that vote counted has deprived voters of their constitutional guarantee of freedom of association. 

Remember, I said in the first sentence that I am a Libertarian yet my state, Tennessee has deprived me of my right to vote for a candidate or an office of my choice at EVERY election.  This is not new, while a resident of North Carolina, I encountered the same thing. Indeed, I was once removed from a North Carolina City Council ballot becaused the state board of elections decided that they could remove my party at the last minute (6 weeks before the election) and I would not have time to obatin the necessary signatures to get on the ballot as an independent in that race.

States routinely violate citizens' rights by making it more difficult for a Political Party to appear on their ballot, by deciding local and/or state issues via votes on a party ballot instead of in a general election where everyone can vote.

Each party when in power tends to tighten the rules on elections to favor keeping themselves in power, when re-districting is required after a census, district lines are redrawn to favor the party in power.

When you go to vote (assuming that you are one of the roughly 50% of Americans who does vote in Presidential Elections or one of the 25% who votes in the off years) do you really have a choice to vote for the person you deem best to fill a particular office?  How many of you if given a blank piece of paper and told to write down your choices would actually choose the one or two candidates for each office presented to you on a printed ballot? I daresay none of you would do that.

In my state as a Libertarian, I am barred from voting in any primary other than my own, Libertarians are not allowed on ANY ballot as anything but an independent candidate and there is no independent primary.  Many bond issues are decided at the primaries but Independent voters cannot vote in primaries.

Well, you might say, write in your favorite person for an office but in many states (Including mine) write in votes are not counted and if they are, they must come from an approved list of candidates.

The system is rigged and until you take a position contrary to the mantra of the "2 Major" political parties in this country, you will wonder what all the hullabaloo is about.

So, what has the New York Democrat Primary got to do with me? Or you or anything?  I am not a Sanders supporter  nor of any of the other Democrats who qualified for the ballot BUT the primary should be held and the votes tallied for all the candidates and the write-ins too.  In any political contest in a democratic country, every citizen who wants to be heard and can meet the basic qualifications for an office has a right to have his name placed on the ballot and any voter should have the right to vote in any election that affects without regard for party affiliation.

I believe that ballots with a very large number of candidates for every office give us a better chance of electing great leaders. Choice in all things is the best way to insure an educated electorate.

This tiny step by US district judge Analisa Torres is a start.

Tennessee: 13938 Loudon County: 39