Elizabeth Colbert Busch to appear on South Carolina ballot twice

[Lucille]

Elizabeth Colbert Busch to appear on South Carolina ballot twice
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-ballot-twice/

One thing many people haven’t noted about the upcoming South Carolina special election race between Mark Sanford and Elizabeth Colbert Busch? The Democrat will appear on the ballot twice.

In March, Colbert Busch obtained the Working Families Party’s endorsement and ballot line — in addition to her status as the Democratic nominee.

In the Empire State, as in South Carolina, Democrats often compete for the Working Families line to increase the number of times they will appear on the ballot and, theoretically, the more votes they can get.

A cursory look at recent elections in South Carolina shows the Working Families Party line generally gets between 2 percent and 4 percent of the vote.

That might seem like a big deal in a close race. But keep in mind: Given the party’s political leanings, its voters seem likely to vote Democratic if the “Working Families” option wasn’t on the ballot. And while the party has gotten a decent number of votes in the races it has played in, it has generally only involved itself in downballot races in which the candidates aren’t well-known. In a much-hyped special election, voters will be more familiar with the candidates and generally won’t just casually mark a third-party line without knowing that they are essentially supporting the Democrat.

[AdamL]

Not really a big deal. Maybe the Broken Families Party will endorse Sanford.

[V3n]

Could this actually split her votes?

----------------------

Like this:

100 votes Sanford
60 votes Colbert Democrat
60 votes Colbert Working Families

Sanford wins!

------------------------

???

[Smart3]

Could this actually split her votes?

----------------------

Like this:

100 votes Sanford
60 votes Colbert Democrat
60 votes Colbert Working Families

Sanford wins!

------------------------

???

She would win 120-100.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Why does a vote for Colbert Busch, Working Families, count as a vote for Colbert Busch, Democratic?

[wormyguy]

Why does a vote for Colbert Busch, Working Families, count as a vote for Colbert Busch, Democratic?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion

[Keith and stuff]

Why does a vote for Colbert Busch, Working Families, count as a vote for Colbert Busch, Democratic?

I don't know that it does. NY is also like this. You are voting for the person. This even exists in New Hampshire and likely a bunch of other states.

[Smart3]

Eight states, but only in NY/SC can you be listed multiple times. The rest (OR, VT, NH, etc) just say Democratic/Progressive/Working Families or Republican/Libertarian

frequently in Vermont you will have legislators who list both D/R as their party.

[cindy25]

Working families is the party of SEIU, of Andy Stern

the question is why Sanford did not get a second line as Conservative, Libertarian, Right to life?

[Brian4Liberty]

Not really a big deal. Maybe the Broken Families Party will endorse Sanford.

I'm not happy about this smear campaign against Sanford, but that's a good one.

[angelatc]

Working families is the party of SEIU, of Andy Stern

the question is why Sanford did not get a second line as Conservative, Libertarian, Right to life?

Probably because those parties are, as always, dead set against the party's choice. We had libertarians running against Justin Amash, Ron Paul, and Chuck Baldwin, too. (LOL at the Bob Barr scenario.)

The Democrats set up fake parties to keep their rebels in their ranks. Our rebels dilute our ranks - the platform is largely one of vanity.

[enjerth]

This is abhorrent. Is this a done deal? Who is the authority responsible for approving such a ballot?

What does it even mean? What is the voter supposed to understand about how this works?

How does it work?

If her multiple platform/party votes are not tallied together, she has to have her eggs in one basket to win, it will split her voters between choosing either to endorse the Democrat platform or the Working Families platform. But more likely, a campaign using this method would be having the Working Families party endorse the Democrat nominee and instruct them to remember to vote for Democrat on the ballot when they see the endorsement ON THE BALLOT.

What's that restriction on having campaign materials at the polls? You know, the free speech one that makes it so I can't tell you about RON PAUL within N yards of the place of polling?

Well, if you have your papers in order and paid the right fees and know the right people, you can get around that pesky restriction. THEY CAN TELL YOU WHO TO VOTE FOR RIGHT AT THE VOTING BOOTH.

That would probably lead to a gross increase in political party regulation and increased difficulty in running a party, to the point where third parties generally end up politically as satellite parties of the two ruling parties.

However, if her two party votes are tallies together... well.... that can of worms will probably lead to all of the above and more.

[Krzysztof Lesiak]

Ya South Carolina and New York are one of the few states that allow fusion. It's pretty cool if you ask me.

Maybe some SC voters will be confused and vote for her twice, therby rendering their ballots invalid? One can only hope.

[Keith and stuff]

Eight states, but only in NY/SC can you be listed multiple times. The rest (OR, VT, NH, etc) just say Democratic/Progressive/Working Families or Republican/Libertarian

frequently in Vermont you will have legislators who list both D/R as their party.

In New Hampshire you can be listed separately for both Republican and Democrat. I've seen it on more than 1 ballot like that.

[Smart3]

Working families is the party of SEIU, of Andy Stern

the question is why Sanford did not get a second line as Conservative, Libertarian, Right to life?

The Libertarian and Constitution parties are unofficially endorsing Sanford by not fielding candidates. RtL and Conservative parties don't exist in SC. It's just R/D/G/L/WF and Labor.

This is abhorrent. Is this a done deal? Who is the authority responsible for approving such a ballot?

What does it even mean? What is the voter supposed to understand about how this works?

How does it work?

If her multiple platform/party votes are not tallied together, she has to have her eggs in one basket to win, it will split her voters between choosing either to endorse the Democrat platform or the Working Families platform. But more likely, a campaign using this method would be having the Working Families party endorse the Democrat nominee and instruct them to remember to vote for Democrat on the ballot when they see the endorsement ON THE BALLOT.

What's that restriction on having campaign materials at the polls? You know, the free speech one that makes it so I can't tell you about RON PAUL within N yards of the place of polling?

Well, if you have your papers in order and paid the right fees and know the right people, you can get around that pesky restriction. THEY CAN TELL YOU WHO TO VOTE FOR RIGHT AT THE VOTING BOOTH.

That would probably lead to a gross increase in political party regulation and increased difficulty in running a party, to the point where third parties generally end up politically as satellite parties of the two ruling parties.

However, if her two party votes are tallies together... well.... that can of worms will probably lead to all of the above and more.

Fusion was an option in the vast majority of the states up until recently. It is well understood by those voters who live in the eight states with fusion. Many candidates for Mayor (NYC) and Governor (NY) were elected only because of fusion. They would have lost if the parties hadn't endorsed them.

Ya South Carolina and New York are one of the few states that allow fusion. It's pretty cool if you ask me.

Maybe some SC voters will be confused and vote for her twice, therby rendering their ballots invalid? One can only hope.

Fusion creates numerous single-issue parties and parties that have the same platform as a faction of the Dems or Repubs. It doesn't end the two-party system - it strengthens it.

[RM918]

If you're voting for a person and not a party, why two buttons? Logically, shouldn't there be one person per button and the subtitle then be, 'Democratic, Working Families'?

[supermario21]

Speaking of fusion, I wish Ron could have gotten in on the "Conservative" ticket in NY. He could have done pretty well I bet.

[wormyguy]

Speaking of fusion, I wish Ron could have gotten in on the "Conservative" ticket in NY. He could have done pretty well I bet.

The politics of getting on the Conservative (and all other) ballot line[s] in NY are so arcane and corrupt that it would've been an impossible task, unless a suitcase full of cash changed hands somewhere (how Ed Rollins claims he got John Anderson onto the then-prominent Liberal Party line instead of Jimmy Carter, providing Reagan's margin of victory there).

[RP Supporter]

If anything this might help Sanford. I could imagine some of Colbert's voters seeing her name twice and checking it in both spots, which should disqualify their vote.

Then again, maybe I'm just underestimating the intelligence of the average voter. Has to happen sometime.