So simple, so easy, so effective
Chad Phillips over at Michigan Populist Blog has a good idea.
[I]n Michigan you can run for State Representative by paying a $100.00 filing fee instead of gathering 200 valid signatures. You can run for State Senator by paying a $100.00 filing fee instead of gathering 500 valid signatures. However, if you are an independent candidate you cannot buy your way onto the ballot. The signatures, and the process of validating them, is what stopped McCotter from pulling off election fraud. The filing fee is what allowed Bolger and Schmidt to nearly succeed in their version of election fraud. It is time to eliminate the filing fee, and force candidates to collect signatures, to help prevent future election fraud. Republicans can go a long way toward improving their image, and our state’s F grade on governmental integrity, by passing this reform along with financial disclosure laws for our elected officials. They have passed 603 laws in the past 18 months. Why not two more?
Why not, indeed? And, while we’re on the topic, why is it that Republicans rail against voter fraud but are the biggest culprits when it comes to election fraud???
[CC image credit: Blood for Oil]
