Voters Choice Act -- introducd again to PA Senate

From Michael J. "Mik" Robertson, Chair, Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

Dear Friend of Liberty,

State Senator Mike Folmer has re-introduced the Voters Choice Act as senate bill (SB) 252, the current version of which is printer number (PN) 262. This bill would change the definition of a minor political party in Pennsylvania and reduce ballot access restrictions for minor party and independent candidates.

Current election law places significant restrictions on placement of candidate names on the general election ballot, resulting in limited and often no choice for voters in November elections. Last year, about half of the races for state representative had only one name on the ballot. Several state Senate and even US Congress races also had only one name on the ballot for voters.

Limiting choices on the ballot is not healthy for the electoral process and can lead to government representing special interests over the interests of the citizens. It is true that Pennsylvanians can write-in a choice at the ballot. Unfortunately, quite often write-in votes are not reported or recorded in official vote results. We need this change to help Pennsylvania voters keep control of their government.

The following Senators are co-sponsors of the bill:

Pat Browne
Mary Jo White
Lisa Baker
Jeffrey Piccola
Rob Wonderling
Jane Earl
Jim Ferlo
Lisa Boscola

If your state Senator is not a co-sponsor, please contact them and ask them to support this important legislation for Pennsylvania voters. You can find you state representatives by clicking on the "Find Members By' button in the upper right here:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/

The Voters Choice Act was referred to the State Government Committee on February 19, 2009. The members of this commmittee are:

Charles McIlhinney, Jr. (Chair)
Mike Folmer (Vice Chair)
Anthony Williams (Minority Chair)
Joseph Scarnati, III (ex-officio)
Michael Brubaker, Jake Corman, John Pippy, Donald White (majority members)
Andrew Dinniman, Christine Tartalione, Leanna Washington (minority members)

If you state Senator is on the committee, please make a special effort to contact them and ask for their support. With your help, we can change the way our commonwealth is governed and put citizens back in control. Thank you for your support!