Choose the Democratic Party Ballot on Sept. 18th

Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or one of the nearly 90% of Hawaii voters who belong to no political party at all, I urge you to vote in the primary election, and more importantly, to choose the Democratic ballot regardless of your political affiliations.

As Justice Kennedy of the United State’s Supreme Court put it, Hawaii’s election laws “exact severe penalties for one who does anything other than vote the (Democratic) Party ballot”

Like it or not, most of our elections are decided by voters who choose the Democratic ballot in the primary election. Failing to vote in this election, or failing to choose the Democratic ballot prevents you from participating in what has effectively become the general election for the State of Hawaii.

Choosing the Republican ballot may make you feel like you’re helping conservative candidates, but most of them don’t need your help on September 18th. Nearly 80% of the Republican candidates on this year’s ballot are uncontested in the primary election. In the remaining Republican contests, there are clear front-runners who will easily win the Party’s nominations.

If you look at the 2004, 2006, and 2008 election results, you will find that voters who chose the Republican ballot in the primary election had absolutely NO impact on ANY of the outcomes in the general election. Republican candidates elected to office either faced no competition in the primary election, or won their party’s nomination with landslide victories. Voting Republican in the primary was clearly a waste of these voters already limited political power.

As an alternative, you might consider the Nonpartisan ballot. But clear biases in our election laws make it virtually impossible for these candidates to win. Voters who choose THESE ballots have NEVER elected a nonpartisan candidate to office in the state of Hawaii.

We need COMPREHENSIVE ELECTION REFORMS to address these and other problems, but for now, protect the limited power of your vote by choosing the Democratic Party ballot on September 18th.


Andy Woerner

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate-Hawaii
Election Reform - Term Limits - Balanced Budget
www.andyforussenatehawaii.com