| Susquehanna, Wyoming, Wayne Counties, PA | November 4, 2008 Election |
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ReformBy Jay "jay sweeney" (sweeney) Sweeney, jay sweeneyCandidate for State Representative; District 111 |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
I support a constitutional amendment to implement a myriad of reforms.There are a number of reforms that I support for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The most important of which is Ballot Access Reform. The law or state constitution must be changed to allow equal access to the ballot for all candidates. In 2006, the Green Party had 2 candidates, Marakay Rogers and Christina Valente, bullied off the ballot for fear of the expense required to defend their right to appear on the ballot and 1 candidate, Carl Romanelli, who fought the challenge and is now saddled with at least $80,000.00 in fees for losing the battle to defend his right to run. All of this despite the Green Party submitting nearly 100,000 signatures of registered voters who believed these candidates should be on the ballot. The signature requirements of Independent and third party candidates should not be 10, 20 or 30 times more than the major parties require. In a free and fair election all candidates should have the same signature requirement. I support Instant Runoff Voting so that voters can list their choices in order of preference in all races of 3 or more candidates. This eliminates the idea of spoiler for third party candidates. I support Initiative, Referendum and Recall so the voters can initiate legislation, vote on it and recall officeholders who are not doing their job. I believe that unless Pennsylvania adopts an open Primary, these elections should be eliminated, relieving the public of the expense of paying for the major parties decision on who their candidates will be. The parties can do this by holding conventions at their own expense. Many voters are not allowed to participate in the Primary Elections because they are not registered to one of the two major parties. If the public cannot participate in these elections, they should not have to pay for them. All referendum questions should appear in the general election. I believe the salaries of legislators should be decided by referendum of the voters. I believe there should be no "lame duck" session after the election. Legislative sessions should end before the election so no controversial legislation is passed after the election so legislators will not feel the wrath of the voters. I support independent redistricting. I support a constitutional amendment to implement all of the above. |
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: August 26, 2008 11:01
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