[RP TownTalk] What a weird primary system this is!

[Roland Walker]

Judges are placed on the ballot to provide the citizens with a method
for judical recall.  Judicial recall is one of the direct-democracy
reforms advocated by the Progressive movement around the turn of the
century:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recall_election

Judges have a huge amount of power and autonomy, and their decisions
are often final.  For instance, in many situations, findings of fact
cannot be appealed to a higher court.  The idea behind judicial recall
is that if a judge does something completely outrageous, the citizenry
can remove him from office.

Other major reforms of the Progressive Era included the referendum and
the Australian ballot (secret ballot).   I remember being shocked to
discover that the secret ballot was such a recent innovation.

And interestingly enough, given recent discussion on this list, the
very notion of a primary also dates to the Progressive Era, though it
was a long time before the primary system was widely adopted.  Before
that, the delegates at the conventions were essentially 100%
"superdelegates".

R

On Feb 11, 2008 10:43 AM, Marc Molino <mmolino54 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  I second your thoughts there, Dwight. I was looking at the sample ballot
> over the weekend and was wondering if they could make it any more confusing.
> And I'm sure by law they must have a vote for the judges, but they are all
> running unopposed, so presumably they are all elected regardless of the
> votes, yes? Or is this just the Democratic ballot I was seeing regarding
> judges?
>
> I still don't understand how "super delegates" hold any value for the
> public...
>
> -marc
> The RP Muse Blog ~ Highlighting local arts & culture. Submissions welcomed.
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>
>
> > Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:32:13 -0500
> > From: dwightrholmes at gmail.com
> > To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org; HOPE_in_Hyattsville at yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [RP TownTalk] What a weird primary system this is!
>
>
> >
> > Looking at my sample Democratic Party ballot for tomorrow for the
> > Maryland primary, this is a very strange primary system we have
> > indeed. It's not like this everywhere, of that I'm sure. (I have no
> > idea if any of this applies to the Republican balloting or not).
> >
> > If you're registered as a Democrat and in Congressional District 5
> > (Hoyer's district) your ballot looks like this:
> >
> http://mdelections.umbc.edu/voter_registration/v2/primary_2008/Prince%20Georges/BS1.pdf
> >
> > If not, you can find your ballot here:
> > http://mdelections.umbc.edu/voter_registration/v2/vote_prod.php
> >
> > Tomorrow I will vote quite separately for my presidential candidate of
> > choice and the delegates. So will every other registered Democrat in
> > Maryland. If I were *really* unable to decide between Clinton and
> > Obama, then I could (for example) vote for Clinton on the top of the
> > ballot, but then vote for Obama delegates at the bottom! But of
> > course the Clinton vote is cosmetic, and only my votes for Obama
> > delegates really means anything! The only thing that's important about
> > your vote for the candidate is that they each must get 15% of the vote
> > total, or they won't earn any delegates whatsoever.
> >
> > Of course, my fear is that some (however many it is, it's too many)
> > voters will go in not having studied the sample ballot, see the list
> > of candidates at the top, make their choice (Clinton, Obama, Edwards,
> > Biden, Dodd, Uncommitted, and more – they're all on there), then see
> > that the next section has to do with judges (why we vote for judges,
> > about whom fewer than 1/10 of 1% of us know anything at all, is beyond
> > me), stop reading and say "I'm done." Then they'll finish their vote
> > and leave, without having made the choice that counts: Delegates.
> > Let's hope not, but isn't this a legitimate concern?
> >
> > (By the way, it's not like this in every state. For certain I know
> > that in California, the ballot choice only involves the candidates
> > themselves; selection of delegates is made in local caucuses of some
> > kind).
> >
> > So, in sum -- Vote early, vote often, and be sure to vote for your the
> > delegates who are committed to your candidate!! :-)
> >
> > --
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