Recently, there has been a lot of public hand-wringing by the conservative commentariat, warning voters about the angry “mob” mentality taking over the Democratic Party. Mainstream Democrats are now branded radical activists by this narrative, “questioning the legitimacy of core elements of our system.” (Rich Lowry, Sun Journal, Oct. 16). Meanwhile, several Republican candidates for […]
Ralph Harder
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Vote 'yes' on Question 1
I offer two reasons to vote “yes” on Question 1. • Returning constitutionally permissible Maine elections to majority rule with ranked-choice voting is an antidote to the hyper-partisanship currently eroding democratic norms. Ranked-choice voting favors election of candidates with less extreme positions whose appeal to a broader swath of the electorate allows them to compromise. […]
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Posted inLetters
Power of the people
With respect to “Bill would vet ballot questions before vote” (Friday, April 21), it is clear that many of our legislators, including Sen. Eric Brakey and Nate Libby, co-sponsors of this bill, are unhappy with the citizen initiative provisions in the Maine Constitution. These provisions allow Maine citizens to enact laws by popular vote and […]
Posted inLetters
Ranked-choice voting will work
Ongoing presidential campaign drama obscures other election issues important to our democracy. One issue up for a vote in November is referendum Question 5, which would return majority rule to the election of Maine’s governor, state and federal legislators. Referendum Question 5, An Act to Establish Ranked-choice Voting, addresses a current weakness in those election […]
Posted inLetters
R. Harder: The choice is clear
When I tell my friends I’m voting for Eliot Cutler, conversation usually stops. Faces become blank, eyes shift downward. It’s as if I’m announcing I have a terminal illness. But I know there’s a cure. Their reaction puzzles me. These are the same folks who agree that Maine’s too-partisan politics are corrupted by “outside” money. […]