Ian Gilyeat: Getting on the Ballot Means Protecting our Personal Liberties

This arrived from Ian Gilyeat, an independent candidate for Senate in AZ:

Personal liberties stand tallest when the right to vote is bound tightly to our consent to be governed. Tragically, in Arizona these personal liberties are becoming unraveled and disconnected from the will of the people. The “unraveling” I refer to is the increasing number of Arizona voters who disconnect from political parties and identify themselves as “independent” or “no party declared” when they register to vote. These 1 million voters are not disenfranchised, middle of the road fence sitters, or flip-floppers that can’t make up their mind…loudly and persuasively they are voting with their pens and telling the political parties to “take a hike.” They want access to the ballot box without the usual politics.

Whether you follow this trend in the Arizona Republic (Independents now the second largest group in Arizona), The Pew Center on Research (Beyond Red vs. Blue) or read the voter count reports from Secretary of State Ken Bennett (Voter Counts), Independents are the coveted “third party” decision maker in every election.

Recognizing this major, long-term shift is critical and we need law makers in Arizona who will represent the will of the people, including Independents, instead of stacking the laws against Independent candidates as they are today.

In Arizona, two major obstacles prevent Independent candidates from having equal access to the ballot:

1) Independent candidates must gather 6x the quantity of signatures to get on the ballot as party candidates. I refer to this as the “3% rule.” Independent candidates must gather 3% of all non-party voters versus 1/2 of 1% of party members for party candidates. This includes Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Green. Since the state is split almost equally in thirds between Republicans, Democrats and Independents this means an Independent needs 6x as many signatures as a party candidates. However, in actual numbers it is much, much larger. Based on registered voter counts through June here are the signature requirements for U.S. Senate or Congressional candidates:

Republican 5,694

Democratic 4,996

Libertarian 124

Green 26

Independent 31,309 (no this is not an error)

Does this look fair to you? No – How could it? Does it look like our representatives have stacked the laws against Independent candidates? Yes – there can be no other answer.

2) Independent candidates must pay 1 cent per name for access to public voter rolls. Party candidates receive this information free of charge. Through July 1st, Arizona has 3,211,711 registered voters. This means a fee of $32,117.11 cents for an Independent candidate to buy access to use this list for campaign purposes. Republicans, Democrats and others? No charge – it is given to party candidates absolutely free.

As ugly as it appears, Arizona laws that govern access to the ballot are deeply biased to protect the power base of the established parties – this is “politics as usual” and is built to keep the career politicians in office and the Independent candidates out.

Every election, these two voting laws trample under foot the very visible action of 1 million Arizona voters who want equal access to the ballot without the burdens of any of the parties.

I am running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Senator Jon Kyl and many of you are gathering signatures to put my name on the ballot. Instead of gathering over 31,000 signatures, if these laws treated Independents like party candidates, we would gather 1/2 of 1%, just like all other candidates. As an Independent candidate, using July voter counts, this would mean 5,218 signatures.

Contact your state representative today. Demand that he or she work to change these biased and corrupt laws. Now is the time to level the playing field – for all candidates. Click here to find your representative – and send a letter or call now.

Warm regards,

Ian Gilyeat

Candidate, U.S. Senate

Independent