Voting As Self-Defense
May 29, 2019 at 10:25 p.m.
By -
American Hoosiers across the state of Indiana and here in Kosciusko County whether they be Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians or Independents will be headed to the voting booth this coming November and again in May and November of 2020. They should feel fortunate to live in a state that is an example of and part of a larger democratic constitutional republic. American Hoosiers have the choice of whether to vote or not to vote in the first place and which particular political races to cast or not to cast a vote in. But most importantly, voters are allowed to do this by secret ballot instead of facing intimidation and repercussions from the authorities, political factions and one’s fellow citizens for casting a “wrong” vote out in the open.
However, there are two freedoms that we are not allowing ourselves to have and that is the ability to cast a retain or not to retain vote and a none of the above vote instead of only voting in the affirmative for a candidate(s). The state of Indiana allows this in a somewhat limited form when it comes to allowing voters the yes or not choice on whether to retain judges, and voters here in Kosciusko County do take advantage of this option as I have shown in previous letters to the editor. The current practice of the yes or no vote to retain public official needs to be expanded to all elective offices on an annual basis every November during the course of their terms in office.
Secondly, it is time to add a none of the above option on Indiana ballots and end the voter disenfranchisement for those American Hoosiers who show up at the polls. But find themselves in a situation where in their personal opinion they are having to pick from unqualified candidates, the lesser of two, three or four evils or the one candidate political race where a candidate could in theory vote themselves into a nomination or office with 100% of the vote. Both of these ideas would be powerful tools in holding public officials more accountable to the rule of law and all of the citizens that they serve. Plus since the state of Indiana allows straight party ticket voting something similar can be setup for both the vote to retain and none of the above options on a ballot where voters can decide to vote all officials out of office or keep the entire current slate of candidates from getting into office. They would of course still have the option of individually selecting a vote to retain or not to retain and none of the above for a particular race on a ballot as they currently do on a regular ballot.
Please contact your representatives at the state and federal levels and urge them to adopt these measures.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg
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American Hoosiers across the state of Indiana and here in Kosciusko County whether they be Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians or Independents will be headed to the voting booth this coming November and again in May and November of 2020. They should feel fortunate to live in a state that is an example of and part of a larger democratic constitutional republic. American Hoosiers have the choice of whether to vote or not to vote in the first place and which particular political races to cast or not to cast a vote in. But most importantly, voters are allowed to do this by secret ballot instead of facing intimidation and repercussions from the authorities, political factions and one’s fellow citizens for casting a “wrong” vote out in the open.
However, there are two freedoms that we are not allowing ourselves to have and that is the ability to cast a retain or not to retain vote and a none of the above vote instead of only voting in the affirmative for a candidate(s). The state of Indiana allows this in a somewhat limited form when it comes to allowing voters the yes or not choice on whether to retain judges, and voters here in Kosciusko County do take advantage of this option as I have shown in previous letters to the editor. The current practice of the yes or no vote to retain public official needs to be expanded to all elective offices on an annual basis every November during the course of their terms in office.
Secondly, it is time to add a none of the above option on Indiana ballots and end the voter disenfranchisement for those American Hoosiers who show up at the polls. But find themselves in a situation where in their personal opinion they are having to pick from unqualified candidates, the lesser of two, three or four evils or the one candidate political race where a candidate could in theory vote themselves into a nomination or office with 100% of the vote. Both of these ideas would be powerful tools in holding public officials more accountable to the rule of law and all of the citizens that they serve. Plus since the state of Indiana allows straight party ticket voting something similar can be setup for both the vote to retain and none of the above options on a ballot where voters can decide to vote all officials out of office or keep the entire current slate of candidates from getting into office. They would of course still have the option of individually selecting a vote to retain or not to retain and none of the above for a particular race on a ballot as they currently do on a regular ballot.
Please contact your representatives at the state and federal levels and urge them to adopt these measures.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg
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