Ballot Access For Some?

Our society today is more interconnected than ever before. With a few keystrokes, you can communicate with anyone around the globe, find out what the score was in the cricket match between the St. Lucia Zouks and the Jamaica Tallawahs, or even find out what that guy you couldn't stand in High School is up to. With all this information at anyone's fingertips, can someone please explain why we continue to use early 20th century identification methods for our elections?

For those that don't know, in order for a person to get on a ballot for any election, one of the requirements is nomination signatures. You are required to get the names, addresses, and signatures of a set number of people in the district you are running for (the number varies based on the size of the district) in a certain amount of time otherwise you cannot be on the ballot. This was designed to prove that you are a real person and reside in the district, even though you are only required to be living in the district before you take the oath of office (that is an entirely different rant).

When all the information that is available to anyone, why do we continue to rely on such an antiquated system? Stagnation, more than likely. This is how it has always been done, so why change it? As someone who has collected signatures for many different campaigns over the past decade, I can tell you why.

Personal privacy is more important to people now more than it ever has been before. With all the scammers, fraudsters, and identity thieves out there, it really is no surprise that people are a little hesitant to sign a piece of paper, with all that information on it, for someone they barely know, if at all. When you add to this that nomination signature forms are public record, I am honestly surprised that candidates, especially for smaller races, even manage to get on the ballot at all.

I realize that I am in a minority here. There is this old fashioned belief in the sanctity of the ballot. I do see the point. You don't want to have a 17 page ballot for every election, but a bit of common sense and freer ballot access is good for everyone. If you really do want to change ways, to not have the same old politicians on the ballot, then you should be in favor of making it easier to get on it. Let the Green, Constitution, Libertarian, and any other smaller party get on the ballot if they so choose. Let the independent business owner, teacher, blue collar worker, stay at home parent, and anyone else have their shot to change things. You can have an honest discussion on the Kanye West campaign. Is it a real desire for change or just a publicity stunt? Who knows, but shouldn't it be up to the voters to decide for themselves?

I am not advocating for allowing anyone and everyone run for everything. That is where the common sense comes in. No, I shouldn't be able to run for president, but I sure should be able to run for a state assembly seat without having to get hundreds of people to sign a piece of paper. I do not have the best answer, but we need to have the discussion sooner than later. It is our Republic. We need to take it back.