Time to get rid of straight party voting in Utah

When referring to possible changes to elections I have stated:

"IF they really want to change elections, they should get rid of straight party voting as people can now get on the general election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate with signatures bypassing the political parties, and have been able to for many years. They just have a harder time wining with straight party voting. CMV v2.1 does nothing to help unaffiliated voters. That would."

As far as I can remember I have not voted straight party for an election. That goes back approx. 40 years.

I started promoting getting rid of straight party voting at least by Sep. 2017. See for example the bottom of this post.
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2017/09/count-my-vote-or-blank-check-vote.html 

When I updated the blog post after CMV amended their proposal it has the same suggestion at the bottom http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2017/11/count-my-vote-or-blank-check-vote.html

When I wrote my op-ed for the Salt Lake Tribune in Feb. 2018, it had the same suggestion.

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2018/02/03/commentary-count-my-vote-would-take-away-accountability-of-elected-officials/

I realized I voted against 2016 HB 119 in committee Feb. 2, 2016, but I was very torn at the time (you can listen to my comments in the committee) have had time to reconsider.

https://le.utah.gov/av/committeeArchive.jsp?mtgID=14061&timelineID=71358

That decision had nothing to do with the 2018 election.

So is it Gary Johnson / Weld v Castle / Bradley or a Write-in for POTUS

So is it Gary Johnson/Weld v Castle/Bradley or a Write-in for POTUS?

(No Trump and No Hillary) 


I will be posting links to interviews from both of these parties and others. Check back for updates.

 Gary Johnson/Weld
I have had issues with some of the comments that Gary Johnson said during his pre-convention debates. He appears to throw the 1st Amendment under the bus, which is concerning.

I supported Utah's 2015 SB 296 and SB 297 which are carefully crafted to protect both religious freedom and provide protections against discrimination of working and living in Utah.

I have asked repeatedly to the Johnson Campaign for a clarification statement from his past comments and also a response to those two bills.

Gary Johnson finally wrote a thoughtful response to my (and likely others) questions:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865659254/EXCLUSIVE-Gary-Johnson-Religious-freedom-and-non-discrimination-laws.html?pg=all

One of the advantages of Gary Johnson/Weld is they both have served as Governors of a state and appear to have more experience than any other slate running, including the "major" parties. He is also on the ballot, reportedly, on all 50 states, and so could actually win without having to go though the vote in the US House. (See below).


Doug Wright videos of the Johnson/Weld interviews

https://youtu.be/KPPY6RaBseA

https://youtu.be/l9gE0esaOjQ

https://youtu.be/eFV6MRWKC-I

https://youtu.be/Tokn21aIbmM

Website:
https://johnsonweld.com/

Darrell Castle/Bradley
Darrell Castle comes across as your next door neighbor. To have someone running with wisdom and humility is refreshing. His Bio is at:
http://castle2016.com/darrell-castle/

I have personally met and talked to and heard Scott Bradly from Utah, who is the VP candidate for the Constitutional Party. While I don't agree with him on some issues, I do on others. I like that they both would protect our religious freedom and that they are pro-life on the abortion issue.

http://castle2016.com/scott_bradley/

Website:
http://castle2016.com/

Why vote for Castle
https://youtu.be/oDIiahus8OY
 
May 10 Q&A
https://youtu.be/b6bPjvjQxyE 

Q&A
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-frankel/trump-hillary-haters-take_b_10110720.html

States that you can vote for Castle/Bradley (Besides Utah)
https://www.constitutionparty.com/get-involved/election-central/ballot-access/

Evan McMullian
https://www.evanmcmullin.com/


Who Else:
This link below shows who the Utah choices are currently to vote on. You can't just write in anyone for POTUS and have it count. They have to have filed and be listed. Check back on this list between now and Sep. 10th, as Sep. 9th is the last day to file for POTUS in Utah.

https://elections.utah.gov/election-resources/2016-candidate-filings#Federal

More on the Electoral College:
If we don't get 270 votes, it goes to the US House of Representatives, one vote per state from the top 3. Who is the 3rd candidate going to be If they can't get a majority?   We may get the VP Candidate voted on from the US Senate if the House can't decide. IF the House fails to pick a President and the Senate fails to pick a Vice President, then under 3 USC 19, the Speaker of the House can resign and become the President.

While this was for a different purpose, it has some good info:
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2011/11/national-popular-vote-compact.html

What we have now with the 12th Amendment:

     The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.

    The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.

    The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

    The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

From the 20th Amendment for the section crossed out above:
20th Amendment "Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified."

IF the House fails to pick as President and the Senate fails to pick a Vice President, then under:

3 USC 19: Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act
(a)(1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President.
 

 Utah Candidates:

By the way, in Utah, someone can run as a write-in candidate for POTUS, but they must file by September 9th. It doesn't cost. You could, if you qualify.

To show up on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for POTUS, The filing must be received by August 15th with $500 and 1000 signatures. You can't just write in anyone on your ballot and have it count.

From the Lt. Gov. 

Candidates who do not wish to affiliate with a ballot-approved political party may appear on the ballot by submitting a petition. Candidates for the office of President or US Senator must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 1,000 registered Utah voters. The names on the petition must be verified by the county clerk(s) as registered voters.

Presidential candidates (or a designated agent) must file the petition and a certificate of nomination between March 11, 2016 and 5pm on August 15, 2016. Unaffiliated candidates are required to pay the same filing fees as all other federal office candidates.

Write-in Candidates

To become a valid write-in candidate for a federal office, an individual must file a Declaration of Write-In Candidacy no later than 5pm on September 9, 2016. Individuals filing for President may have a designated agent file for them.

Federal office candidates must file the declaration in person with the Lt. Governor's Office. Write-in candidates must meet the qualifications required for the federal office they are seeking. Filing the Declaration of Write-In Candidacy means that write-in votes for the candidate will be counted. The candidate's name will not appear on the ballot.

Why Keep the Utah Neighborhood Caucus and Convention System

Why Keep the Utah Neighborhood Caucus and Convention System?

The caucus system in Utah is the best way to make sure a grassroots process can win over large amounts of money. It is the only way someone with $100,000 can go against someone with $2 million in election funds.

We have a system that that does NOT favor the incumbent, wealthy or famous. This is a good thing.

Our only problem with voter turnout is it has not kept up with the population increase. The voter turnout keeps going up but not as fast as the population. Some of that is the younger voters, where Utah has a larger percentage of them and they aren't, as a group, as involved. Some of that are those moving in and not understanding our system.

 If you are going to run as a Democratic candidate, you have to comply with their rules. If you are going to run as a Republican, you have to comply with their rules. If you want to run and not have those rules, you can run as an unaffiliated or independent, or run as a 3rd party candidate. “Count My Vote” is attempting to change all party rules by changing state laws by initiative, thus bypassing the political parties and the Legislature.

We already have a "bypass" system. It is called filing as an unaffiliated candidate. You go straight to the general election. So if Mr. Jowers, or Mr. Leavitt don't think they can win if vetted by average citizens asking one on one questions, they can run that way and spend the money. Why should they be a party nominee if they are going to bypass the party?

When people realize this "Count My Vote initiative will give them less of a chance to participate but give media and power brokers more power, they will not sign any initiative. This is a power grab by Lobbyists, and those that want to run for office but don't believe they can win if vetted by average citizens asking one on one questions.


I ask you to read these two of my Op-Ed articles:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/56205410-82/state-caucus-system-party.html.csp

and

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765631377/We-need-to-keep-fair-elections-in-Utah.html

We need to coordinate with college and university campuses in Utah so students know where their caucus meeting is, and where Utah residents can register to attend and participate.

We could make sure that neighborhood caucus meetings could be done in two hours, and the election results distributed not just to the county and state parties, but to those who missed the caucus, so they can learn who represents them and who to contact to make their views known. Any person who got a babysitter for two hours to attend a caucus meeting should be able to vote within that time frame.

The present system does not protect the incumbent, the wealthy or the famous.

Keep fair elections in Utah.

Endorsement of Cherilyn Eagar for Congress

I have been associated with Cherilyn Eagar for years. I was active in helping her team when she ran for US Senate. I have watched her tireless effort in promoting conservative values, that didn’t diminish when that race was over. Her extensive knowledge of the US Constitution along with State, National and International policies and situations is simply amazing.

As a newly appointed member of the Utah House of Representatives, I have found that bills being drafted or debated often contain conflicting ideas and principles and that it is sometimes very difficult to determine which way to vote. While I have watched others be overly critical of that process, Cherilyn has been only supportive, even when she didn’t agree. I have watched her be firm in principles and values while continuing always to learn. It is with that background that I endorse Cherilyn Eagar for the US House of Representatives as someone I trust and that will represent Utah well.

For more information about Cherilyn Eagar

Website:
http://eagar2012.com/

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