Tag Archives: RCV

Feb 13 2019

Geographical Prejudice

 

Prejudice, its many layers unfolded, invariably yield an influence unhealthy to society. More than the nostalgic lampoon of quirky Americana in a Hollywood taint, geographical prejudice, at its extreme, has been a combative divide between regions of our society with often tragic results. Surprising as it would seem, the Democrat Party has made geographical prejudice a hallmark of their political agenda.

Much like Ranked Choice Voting, which by design circumvents the will of the rural voter, the Maine Democrat Party has introduced a bill that would give away its electoral votes to larger more populated states, in a first step move to eliminate the Electoral College. The so called “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact” is the means by which Democrats hope to give away Maine’s four electoral votes.

Eleven states and the “unstate”, but statist, Washington D.C. have joined the compact. All eleven states are Democrat strongholds, with California and New York the power brokers. In essence electorally, Maine Democrats want California to have their cake and eat Maine’s too.

The Electoral College was designed to insure that all regions of the Nation have an impact on the election of the President. If Democrats have their way and abolish the Electoral College, the Presidency would be decided by two States, California and New York. But Democrats want to take the travesty further with the interstate compact which could take the electoral votes of rural states and give them to urban states.

Yes, there is a pattern here. Democrats have made no secret of their disdain for the “backwards” beliefs, morals, and ideals of rural America. As with RCV, their aim is to silence rural voters by eliminating the structures that protect the integrity of those votes. This goal undermines the fundamental tenets of the Republic for fair representation.

-Andy Torbett

Dec 18 2018

Finish the Task

 

Bruce Poliquin will, and must, continue his challenge to the Ranked Choice voting system and the Constitutionality of the results. He will, because it is his choice as a citizen of this Republic and he has the freedom to do so. He must, because he is a Representative of the voters in the 2nd Congressional District (CD2) who, 20,000 strong, voted against the RCV and feel disenfranchised by the results of the new voting system.

It bears repeating that those who decry the challenges to RCV as an effort to erode the voter’s confidence in the voting process spent millions in an effort to erode the voter’s confidence in the voting process in order to pass RCV. To one eligible citizen there is given one vote. That is the Constitution and, as Representative Poliquin took an oath to defend the Constitution, he is required by that oath to challenge this attack on the very foundation of our Republic.

In this light, the argument and subsequent mockery of Poliquin that he did not fully criticize the RCV during the election and that this somehow invalidates his challenge is at best irrelevant and at worst, laughable. The Representative is bound by his oaths of public servitude to his constituents, the integrity of this Republic, and the ideals set forth in the Constitution of the United States. Yet, he is, of course, free to violate these oaths, as some do, for personal ease and deflection of responsibility, but the erosion of the individual voting rights of the citizen will only continue.

No, Bruce Poliquin is bound to see this through, to finish this task. In so doing,perhaps, he can raise the awareness of the, too often, apathetic voter. Maybe there can arise enough passion to repeal this travesty.

-Andy Torbett

Dec 11 2018

Spoiler Alert

 

We’ve come some distance from where we started. The destination has none of the trappings advertised and, it seems, we are nowhere near the place we were promised to be. This was not in the brochure.

With the CD 2 race breaking records for the amount of money spent, Mainers are wondering, while standing knee deep in all the residual left over from campaign mud slinging, why they find themselves burdened with more of everything that RCV promised to eliminate. The grandiose, Utopian promise of a kinder, gentler, majority approved, and fiscally spartan campaigns have proven to be as fraudulent as the “everyone-gets-a-trophy” voting platform it’s built on. But when have Utopian promises ever come true?

The fundamental premise of RCV is flawed and its genesis is suspect at best. The idea that any other candidate then the two major party candidates are spoiler candidates is bereft of any respect for the right of the individual. Furthermore, the idea that there should only be two final choices flies in the face of the tenets of our Republic, which promises that any person who qualifies may aspire to public office. RCV smacks of old world European socialism, which grants the people opportunity to chose between two government sanctioned parties.

The frustration with “spoiler candidates” is not new. Republicans were livid with Ross Perot for what they perceived was a sabotage to President George H.W. Bush’s second term and paved the way for the Clinton machine. No matter what side of the political divide cries foul, the Republic has always afforded an avenue for all voices to call for power and that the candidate who emerges from the din with a majority, of whatever variety, wins.

Maine has even had a spoiler candidate for a Governor. Angus King somehow emerged from the shrouds of spoilage to gain the plurality of votes. With Governor King, for this conservative, the temptation to try and deligitimize a duly elected official based on the current political climate is real, but in fairness, that’s left to a Trump crazed media and…Ranked Choice Voting.

Its still more than ironic that those who decry the challenges to RCV as an assault on the voter’s confidence in the voting process spent millions in an effort to erode the voter’s confidence in the voting process in order to pass RCV. One person one vote, its that simple. Giving a little child an unearned trophy to take away the sting of losing is a bad way to raise children and an even worse way to elect our government.

By Andy Torbett