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Daily Hampshire
Gazette
Election reform critical to
democracy
Michael Aleo
June 2002
To the editor:
In Massachusetts, the Democratic Party is the status quo. It
benefits from the fact that, in terms of dollars spent,
Massachusetts is one of the most lobbied states in the entire
country. Consequently, politics in this state is dominated by
special interests - particularly, corporate
interests.
Voters are tired of politics as usual in Massachusetts. The time
has come for voters to send a message to the Democratic Party: We
believe in democracy, and we will fight for it.
Clean Elections and Instant Runoff Voting are central to creating
a genuine democracy.
It is abundantly clear that as a party, Democrats do not support
Clean Elections. This poses a serious obstacle for democratic reform
in Massachusetts.
Recently, Phil Johnston (chairman of the Mass. Democratic Party)
attacked Jill Stein's bid for governor. Accusations of Jill Stein
being a spoiler in the upcoming gubernatorial election are shallow.
Electoral reform could easily allow voters to cast votes in a manner
that does not allow for the 'spoiler effect' we saw in the
presidential elections of 2000.
Instant Runoff Voting would allow voters to prioritize candidates
so that they may vote for Jill as their first choice, with a
Democrat as their second. If Jill was not one of the top two vote
getters, the Democrat would become the voters' first choice - thus,
no 'throw away' votes. This would mean that a vote for Jill would
not be a vote for Romney. Oddly, in Massachusetts it is the
Democratic Party that would benefit most from Instant Runoff Voting
- yet it is the Green Party that leads the IRV
campaign.
If the Democratic Party wants to hold onto its ever-shrinking
base of progressive support, it must reform. In the
meantime, the Green Party must push for an alternative -
for true democracy. |
