Gremlins in the cell

Gremlins in the cell with me this morning.

My first Presidential vote went to the Libertarians. I wanted to encourage them, was confident Nixon had my state wrapped up anyway, and couldn't bring myself to vote for him but I sure wasn't going to vote for the Dem.

It's been many years since the LP or any 3rd party (except the Clinton spoiler) was on my state ballot. The requirements are, I think, about as high as any state.

It's understandable that some cutoff must exist so we don't have a mile-long ballot full of every kook who could file for candidacy.

It's also understandable that people organize into like-minded groups to field candidates for office.

But because government prints the ballots, and decides how one gets on those ballots, it's not hard for established parties to restrict 3rd-party access to the ballot.

Result, effective one-party rule pretending to be competing parties.

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Goodness, what a burst of words! Must have been the coffee hitting my system. Nood up?