A long time friend of mine recently posted an image on one of his social media accounts.
“I should not have to join a party to vote”, #EndPartisanship.
That’s absolutely true! No one should have to join a party (any party) as a requirement to vote. Thankfully, no one has to join a party to vote today!
Any registered voter can cast their ballot in a general election, whether Republican, Democrat, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, or any other party – or they can even vote if they aren’t affiliated with any Party.
Similarly, any person can run for office and have their name appear on the general ballot – Republican, Democrat, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, or any other party – or affiliated with no Party at all.
That’s where your vote is counted, at the general election… but in popular elections, your vote is often the very last word that any politician ever really “hears”. Many don’t care about an individual voter (or even entire groups of voters) until the next election cycle. Sometimes that’s two years, other times four, and in still other cases it’s a whopping six years until your vote is counted again – and your elected official has to “look” like they’re listening to you – their constituent.
In a Party system, powered by an arrangement like the Utah’s Caucus/Convention System, you still have a vote in the General Election (no one takes that away from you, regardless of what propaganda may insinuate), but you also have a neighborhood representative called a “Delegate” that probably lives within walking distance from you.
NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATIVES
These Delegates are elected by you and your neighbors in neighborhood elections called a Caucus. These Delegates (elected by you and your neighbors) then research candidates who best represent the interests of your neighborhood to appear on the Primary Ballot. From there, candidates that represent the values of each Party are whittled down by Party members to go on to the General Election – where everyone, regardless of Party affiliation, goes to vote.
The difference between the two systems is that your Neighborhood Delegate can stay on top of what your elected officials are doing through their term, and stay in contact with them to make sure their votes stay in line with what’s best for your neighborhood.
Elected officials are VERY conscious of these delegates because they hold the power to keep them accountable at the next Convention. They don’t want to upset these Delegates by voting contrary to what’s best for your neighborhood, so they keep them in the loop. Your neighborhood continues to have a VOICE long after the individual VOTES have been counted.
HEAR YOUR VOICE
What’s even better is that any individual can contact their Delegate and ask them to call, write, or even visit your elected official on your behalf regarding ANY topic. This correspondence has the effect of a 1,000 signature petition being delivereddirectly to your elected officials – without the hassle of coming up with that petition, and getting all those signatures.
Don’t fall for their propaganda. Your VOICE is heard throughout their entire term of office, and it’s AMPLIFIED 1,000 times thanks to your Delegate – your Neighborhood Representative – through the Caucus/Convention System.
