Comments on: Constitution Party polled over 6% in Washington State primary

By: Brandon H.

Brandon H. — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:59:41 +0000

So if you make it to the run-off, as long as you hold your opponent to under 95% you are ballot qualified.

By: Catholic Trotskyist

Catholic Trotskyist — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:20:50 +0000

Yes, Sam Reed is a hero, and his greatness should be transformed into him taking over all election management for the entire United States. The top two runoff system does defend voter rights, and if a third party campaign would actually get some support, it could thus get second place and have a real chance. But the fact that it hasn’t proves that third parties other than the Catholic Trotskyist Party of America are a waste of votes.

God bless Sam Reed, god bless the pope, god bless Ted Kennedy. Amen.

By: sunshinebatman

sunshinebatman — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:34:46 +0000

Top two runoff is a great idea… it of course increases voter rights by giving them two votes rather than one. What doesn’t make sense is to have the 5% ballot acces rule applied ONLY to the runoff race! It should apply to the primary. This law should be changed so it applies to the primary. Hopefully 3rd-party activists there are looking into that.

By: TN

TN — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:24:31 +0000

â€œWhen Sam took office in 2001, he set to work on his chief priority to protect voter rights. One of the great victories came earlier this year when the United States Supreme Court reinstated the voter approved, Top Two Primary. â€

Just to clarify, the Top Two primary was passed by referendum (I-872) in ’04. Regardless of the efficacy or fairness of the law, the Secretary and A-G do have statutory obligations to defend state laws against court challenge. I might be equally perturbed if Reed cherry-picked the voter initiatives he chose to defend against lawsuits.

In that sense, I think Reed’s bio meant he was “defending voter rights” in the sense that he was generally defending the rights of voters to enact laws through the initiative process (in this case I-872), not necessarily that he personally considered or didn’t consider I-872 to be a hallmark of equitable access legislation. (Notwithstanding, of course, the fact that Reed personally endorsed 872 on the ballot in ’04. )

By: Chad

Chad — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:51:21 +0000

I didn’t know why you hated Sam Reed so much then I saw his “accomplishments” page.

“When Sam took office in 2001, he set to work on his chief priority to protect voter rights. One of the great victories came earlier this year when the United States Supreme Court reinstated the voter approved, Top Two Primary. ”

How the hell is that even remotely close to any kind of voter’s rights?

I now know one more person that I will not vote for.

By: darolew

darolew — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:13:43 +0000

Thank you, Sam Reed. /sarcasm