Mail-in ballots are now on many Montanan’s kitchen tables. I hope everyone looks closely at Constitutional Initiative 126 and 127 and votes to approve these changes to our state Constitution.
CI-126 would change the Montana Constitution to establish an “open primary.” An open primary would allow any individual who wishes to seek elected state or federal office and who collects enough signatures to appear on the primary ballot.
CI-127 would mandate that the winning candidate must garner 51 percent of the vote, thus helping to ensure that that individual truly represents a majority of his or her constituents. This would end the practice of a candidate “winning” with just 30, 40 or even 45 percent of the vote due to third party challengers.
Why should we Montanans vote to make these changes now?
Montana, like much of the nation is experiencing an ever-increasing amount of political shouting and very little political listening. Yet I keep hearing from friends of all political stripes that they are woefully tired of all the political fighting. People want their legislators and elected officials to work out their differences and find workable solutions for the majority.
Most people seem to understand that we have more in common with our neighbors than differences, especially if you consider the challenges posed by the rising cost of living, increasing property taxes, public safety, energy, public education, and the challenges to our water and wildlife. These are complex issues. Finding solutions always requires listening to the facts and reaching compromise with the person ‘across the aisle.’
Currently, the major political parties select who appears on the primary ballot. As the Republican and Democratic parties continue to shout at each other, they simultaneously select for all of us their most extreme comrades to appear on the primary ballot.
There are many moderate, intelligent people who want to work on solutions and want to run for office who can’t get on the ballot because the party bosses don’t select them. There are many areas of the state where only one candidate from one political party appears on the ballot because there’s currently no room on a ballot for someone from the same party who want to challenge their party’s candidate.
Montana voters need to be able to select who appears on the primary ballot. Not the political parties. It’s time to take the political parties down a notch, and for Montana voters to step up a notch.
Montana has – until recently – been a ‘two-way street’ state. Some call it a purple state. Maybe we still are. People still talk to each other. We’re still courteous in community, at the store, and as we wave at each other as we travel our many beautiful back roads. There’s so much we enjoy in common about living in Montana.
We can do this. We can change our Constitution to allow the people to select who we want to appear on the primary ballot and who we want elected. The political parties are failing us. Let’s fix this problem.
Dave Hadden lives in Bigfork.