Open primary ballot needed

Letters

August 16, 2011

Open primary ballot needed

By Bill Waller Sr., Citizen The Picayune Item Picayune Item Tue Aug 16, 2011, 12:13 PM CDT

JACKSON — The election on this past Tuesday once again proved the need for an open primary ballot. One that has all of the names listed in alphabetical order for each office regardless of party affiliation, independent or otherwise. If this had been in place at this election it would have been less confusion and more realistic democratic results. The restraints fixed by party vote prevent the voter from exercising his choice for each candidate. Many voters would choose some Republicans and some Democrats and would not make a 100% exclusive party choice. The party ballot that we are now using prevents a voter from exercising his own individual choice as to candidates for each office.

For whatever reason we have not been able to adopt the open ballot primary, however, with the obvious polarization of races in each of the two parties it makes changes more critical than ever before. Obviously, we need to re-write our election laws including the primary ballot process, as well as moving the voting day to Saturday.

An example of lack of voter participation occurred in Desoto County where they have around 87,000 registered voters and only 23,000 actually voted, or less than 1/3 of those qualified. A large percentage of voters commute to Memphis to work. Commuting to work is definitely in vogue and it is a factor in most all counties. The extent of commuting was not a factor when the original election laws were passed.

If Mississippi is to move ahead economically and remove itself from the bottom of the list on every category then we must be willing to make changes, and I am somewhat confounded by the lack of interest in modernizing our government.

Most Cordially Yours,

WALLER & WALLER

Bill Waller, Sr.

GOVERNOR 1972-1976

Text Only

Letters

Palazzo's stand on disaster relief embarrassing
Dear editor,
U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo's recent vote against funding to pay flood insurance claims of Sandy victims should provoke embarrassment and disgust in Mississippians irrespective of individual politics.

January 16, 2013
Letter to the Editor
Editor:
I would like to address the problem of unwanted animals being dumped in rural areas within the county. To those animal owners that do not want their animals anymore, for whatever reason; please be responsible and try to find a new home for your animal.

December 28, 2012
Letter to the Editor
Never in the history of our nation has a president been reelected who has caused 23 million unemployed, 6 trillion of debt and a certainty that his policies will continue on steroids. Economics 101 would refute these policies. He told his followers to “vote for revenge.”

December 13, 2012
We need checks and balances
Dear Editor,
Never in the history of our nation has a president been reelected who has caused 23 million unemployed, 6 trillion of debt and a certainty that his policies will continue on steroids. Economics 101 would refute these policies

December 12, 2012
Butler Now contract raises questions
Dear Editor:
The new contract with Butler Snow creates many unanswered questions. First, after pleading poverty before and during the budget hearings, why is it necessary to spend over $450,000 dollars to hire a firm to do what we already pay the supervisors to do? It’s obvious that the taxpayer was the least considered party to this one-sided contract. Once again, the supervisors have validated one of the 5 characteristics of government. “The few who pay taxes are simply a source of revenue to fund the socialist policies of politicians and their politically connected cronies.”

December 6, 2012
letter to the editor
Editor;
I had long feared that Obama would be reelected to a 2nd term due to his policies that inordinately benefitted and increased the size of the dependency class -— who would then overwhelmingly vote for him.

December 1, 2012
Need to thank Mississippi farmers
Editor:
As a member of the agricultural community that provides food and fiber for the 98% of the population that is not involved in farming, I want to thank all of you for your support of this most vital industry in Mississippi.

November 29, 2012
Letter to the Editor
Editor: I had a nightmare that I was in the middle of a presidential election.

November 10, 2012
Letter to the Editor
Editor;
Gene Lyons is a master of inneundo and obfuscation as illustrated in his column in the August 30th Item. He starts off by intimating that Mitt Romney lies a lot and then cites 2 probable lies and 1 direct accusation of lying. That’s a total of 3.

September 14, 2012
letter to the editor
Editor:
Was the reverse 911 used to warn county residents about the flooding danger. I experienced this first hand at 2:30 a.m. while bringing my wife to work in Picayune. I started to investigate and get the word out to media outlets and the only one to pick up on this was WGNO TV in NOLA.

September 11, 2012
More Letters Headlines

Letters

Search Results

Open primary ballot needed

Site Map

Contact Us