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 Paying per Vote is Asurd
by Tom Campbell
June 26, 2008
Tuesday’s runoff election was poor in turnout but rich in costs to taxpayers. Under the best conditions the race for Commissioner of Labor is about as exciting as watching paint dry, so you can only imagine the excitement a runoff generated. Actually, you don’t have to imagine. Only 62,900 bothered to show up and this includes several counties in which there were other runoffs. We had a similar situation, with similar results, in 2004 with the Commissioner of Agriculture runoff.
According to the State Board of Elections, this runoff cost taxpayers about ,500,000.00. I wrote out the number so you would get the full effect of what it cost. Perhaps you are already ahead of me but doing the math means taxpayers paid .56 for every vote. This is ridiculous. Each of us who voted could have put half a tank of gas in our cars for that amount.
It is past time to do something about this. We have several suggestions. First, we absolutely must shorten the ballot. We hear everyone moaning about taking away our freedom to vote but the plain truth is that nobody cared enough to do so. We don’t need to be electing this long list of statewide candidates. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor should run together. We also need to separately elect our Attorney General, State Auditor, and probably our State Treasurer, since that officeholder is responsible for investing public pension funds. We could easily appoint the Secretary of State, Ag Commissioner, Labor Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner, and we should either eliminate the Superintendent of Public Instruction or, at the least, reconstitute the duties so that the job has some real responsibilities. Shortening our ballot would require a constitutional amendment but would fix many of the problems involving statewide runoff elections.
Second, we must make it more difficult to call a runoff. Current laws work well when there are two or sometimes three candidates, but with four or more candidates in a race it is difficult to obtain the necessary forty percent plus one vote necessary to win outright. We should also institute the instant runoff. In this procedure you cast your ballot for your first choice and also your second (and maybe third) choice at the same time. It may not be perfect but this provision could easily have saved ,500,000.00.
In the May primaries taxpayers paid .75 for each vote cast. Tuesday we paid . When our state has children without health insurance, schools that are overcrowded, congested and crumbling roads, and so many other needs, spending this large sum of money is an insult and almost criminal. Don’t even try to justify this by saying this is the price we pay for living in a Democracy. We can fix this problem and our legislature should set changes in motion before they adjourn. |
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