NO ON NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS IN BECKLEY
The argument for nonpartisan elections is simple. It is based on the old saying, “You don’t need to be a Republican or Democrat to pave a road.” Mayor Emmett Pugh and city council members in favor of this change say partisan politics do not play a role in local government and suggest that switching to a nonpartisan election process will make it easier for independent or third-party candidates to gain access to the ballot.
As a current independent candidate for Mayor of Beckley, I can assure you that getting on the ballot for elected office is already an easy process. Then, there is the argument that local problems do not require partisan solutions. The real question is, “do Republicans and Democrats take different approaches when dealing with larger city issues like economic development and crime?”
And as for increasing voter turnout, it is unrealistic to think that people are going to go out and get more involved in the electoral process simply because they no longer have a party affiliation to guide their vote. Instead they will use the next best cue, which in most cases is incumbency, name recognition or ethnicity.
Political scientists studying nonpartisan elections have discovered that without a “team” to root for, voters become less interested in the race and often leave a ballot blank. The belief is that voters are less sure who to vote for. This is also what you find when you compare the number of votes cast by Beckley voters for president in the 2008 primary elections, to the number of votes cast for the “nonpartisan” board of education race on the same ballot. Of the 5054 Beckley voters that voted for president, 3035 of those voters either did not complete their vote for board of education or did not cast a vote at all.
If all this were not argument enough, I have one final point to make: If parties can still endorse candidates in a nonpartisan election, it is hard to imagine them staying out of the race or not shoveling funds into the campaigns of their favorites. The notion that local politicians do not get involved with partisan politics is ill conceived at best.
The benefits of nonpartisan elections are unproven, and the risks are far too great. If we want to save money, move our elections to the voters by simply consolidating city elections with state and county elections. By doing so we would save just as much money as we would by eliminating the primary.
Even though “nonpartisan” is a sweet sounding phrase, it is an idea that would undoubtedly change things, but to the detriment of the process. Please join me in saying NO to nonpartisan elections in Beckley. I’m asking you to join me in voting NO to this election change on Saturday Aug. 28th. (Early Voting - Aug. 20 - 25).
Thank you again for your continued support.
Tony O. Martin,
Independent Candidate for Mayor
Beckley, West Virginia
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Video Footage Of June 8th Public Hearing On The Proposed Ordinance (The First Public Hearing):
The Attempt To Extend The Current Term Of Office For All Elected Officials By One Year:
2008 Presidential Primary Election:
Proposed Ordinance Published Thursday, June 10th, 2010 - The Register Herald Classifieds
Proposed Ordinance