Ed Rutledge for Lieutenant Governor

Suffrage and Elections

by Lex Green

Libertarian for Illinois Governor

07/31/2010
 

ARTICLE III: SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

SECTION 3. ELECTIONS

All elections shall be free and equal.

Source: Illinois Constitution.

It sounds like Illinois has fairness built into its nature. After all, if the Constitution says elections are equal, what could be fairer than that? So any law allowed by the Illinois Constitution should protect equality in all aspects of voter choice. Yet we know that isn't the case. We have examined these laws and they are wanting. It is clear that we need to change those laws, not just for the sake of fairness, but also to comply with the Constitution.

But is that all? Shouldn't we expect that any elected official, politician, and even private citizens would also demand fairness in the electoral process? If anyone would want to exploit the obviously unfair laws, that would make that person's choice of action equally unethical. That means it is unfair to potential candidates, but more importantly, unfair to Illinois' voters, who don't really have a say in the process. This is the reason why voters typically stay home on Election Day.

It is no secret of human nature that some people would cheat or have disregard for the equal protection of others under the law. And it would be naïve to think we could expect fairness from everyone in the state. But if our elected officials are orchestrating the effort to deny electoral equality, that bespeaks of tyranny and abuse of power. If anyone in office were to condone or encourage any action to limit fair voter choice, that person is an enemy of the people.

So who is behind the many petition challenges that seek to limit the candidates allowed on the ballot? One is our state's own Governor Pat Quinn. At his request, efforts to throw William "Doc" Walls off the primary ballot resulted in limiting choice last February in the Democratic primary. So Doc is attempting the much harder task of running as an independent. Getting over five times the number of signatures required by Governor Quinn is a daunting task, but citizens gave forth five times the support and helped Doc qualify. By challenging Doc again, Governor Quinn is squashing the competition. This is what we would expect in a corrupt third world regime, and it has no place in American politics.

But the Democrats aren't the only ones who are attacking the democratic process. Challenges have been thrown down for several other independents, the Constitution Party, and my own Libertarian Party. My survival on the ballot is threatened by a Republican lawyer, John Fogarty, who is known to be an associate of Republican House minority leader Tom Cross. And that is not all.

During the recent hearings for the challenges to the Constitution Party's petitions, one of the Republican volunteers volunteered some extra information. He announced he was working for Senator Bill Brady, none other than the Republican candidate for Governor. This puts two highly placed elected officials at the helm of this attack on Liberty. Any senator that would sanction this action does not deserve to be in any office in a free state.

The hardest question I have had to answer in recent weeks is "Who do I vote for if you are kicked off the ballot?" I cannot answer. It is our duty as Americans and as Illinoisans to exercise our right of suffrage. But when the only choices are between unethical power brokers who trample on true choice, I cannot endorse any. It is very hard these days to convince people to come to the polls. Fewer than 1 in 5 came out for February's primary. And we cannot fight tyranny by voting for the lesser of two evils. At a time when we need political courage to solve the dire plight of a nation out of control, Illinois is part of the problem, not the solution.

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