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Secretary of State and Division of
Elections helping eliminate political competition
Not only does Georgia have the hardest ballot access laws in
our entire country, but now the State has added another advantage
solely for the benefit of Republicans and Democrats.
In prior years, independent candidates were listed on the
qualified candidates lists until our qualifying period the last week
of June. This only seems fair and just - since not only do we have to
pay the same fees, we have to obtain more petition signatures than
in any other State. Also many issue organizations use the SoS
candidate list to send candidate questionnaires.
Based upon the lists on the SoS web site as of today, April
29, there are 143 out of 180 House districts (80%) that will only
have one candidate in November. There are 36 out of 56 Senate
districts (64%) that will only have one candidate in November. One
candidate elections belong in banana republics NOT our State of
Georgia!
Unless the SoS candidate lists are wrong that means that
roughly 2/3 of Georgians will not have any choice in one or both of
their State Legislature elections year.
Are you satisfied and totally happy with your State
government? If not the State is simply saying "tough!"
With such a lack of choice being presented to the citizens -
why is the State government going out of its way to eliminate
political competition?
Could the unholy influence of special
interests be involved? Having fewer candidates certainly makes their
job of gaining unholy influence easier.
Have you ever felt like your State government is out of touch?
That you are basically ignored?
One candidate elections do not provide
much in the way of accountability to the voters! No wonder the
Legislature ignores the citizens, 2/3 of Georgians get to vote for
more of the same OR more of the same!
We hope that you will give this some thought. We have sent the
following letter to the Division of elections requesting that our
candidates, who pay the same fees and
in addition are out gathering more petition
signatures than any other State be given the courtesy of just
being recognized as candidates. After all, shouldn't the citizens
decide who they want to vote for?
Please help spread the word about this issue. Let all
Georgians know that we are trying to simply give the people a choice
- to let the People Vote and Decide for themselves.
Email
This page
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Committee to Elect Mike Crane
725 Ridgeview Road
Morganton, Georgia
30560
706-374-4643
http://ElectMikeCrane.com
April 28, 2006
The
Honorable Cathy Cox
Division of Elections
2 MLK, Jr. Dr. S.E.
Suite 1104, West Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334-1530
Dear
Secretary of State Cox:
On the
Division of Elections web site there is a listing of Political
Party candidates who have qualified this week. There is no
listing of political body or independent candidates who are
still in the qualifying process, and are prohibited by State
law from paying the same fees until later in June.
In prior
elections political body and independent candidates with
registered committees were listed from this time frame until
the June period in which they pay their fees.
I am not
aware of any legislation that has passed the legislature that
would provide a benefit solely for Republican and Democratic
candidates of an additional month of exposure to the public.
Since this list is also used by many organizations for the
generation of candidate questionnaires and invitations to
candidate forums this is a major concern.
I am
hopeful that this is just an oversight and can be quickly
resolved.
Please
feel free to contact me at 706-374-4643 if you need any
additional information or need to discuss. To provide the same
information available for Republican and Democratic
candidates:
Senate
District 51:
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Mike
Crane
725
Ridgeview Road
Morganton, GA 30560
E-Mail:
mikecrane@tds.net |
Party:
Southern
Age: 57
Occupation: Web
design, database and internet communications,
Web: http://ElectMikeCrane.com |
Thank
you in advance for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mike
Crane |
As of April 29, the list of House Districts with only one candidate in
November:
1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30,
31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73,
74, 75, 77, 78, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97,
98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113,
114, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130,
131, 132, 133, 137, 138, 141, 143, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156,
157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 166, 167, 168, 170, 173, 174, 176,
178, 180
As of April 29, the list of Senate Districts with only one candidate in
November:
2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26,
27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 45, 48, 51, 54, 55, 56
If I do not get on the ballot, the citizens of the 51st District
will have one choice in the November
elections.
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