Elections
Elections
Corporation
Corporation
Audits
Audits
Archives
Archives
Executive
Executive
Home
Home
Secretary of State
Paul Damian Wells
Democrat
Occupation: Computer Architect
Occupational Background: Electrical Engineer
Educational Background: BSEE Purdue University;
Portland State University
Prior Governmental Experience: None
I’m not a Democrat.
I’m an Independent voter and Voting Rights Advocate. I’m a candidate
in this private
Democratic primary because it isn’t private. Everything needed to conduct
this primary is heavily subsidized or paid for outright with public
money.
I qualified as a Democratic candidate for this office
by paying a $100 fee. I then paid a $1000 fee to have this statement distributed
to approximately 1,500,000 homes statewide at taxpayer expense. As a Democrat
I was not required to collect signatures to qualify as a candidate and assuming
10 cents printing/postage per item, this statement is worth $150,000. The
election ballots are also printed and mailed at taxpayer expense, and county
clerks tally the votes.
In contrast, Independent (non-affiliated) candidates for this same office
are required to collect over 15,000 signatures to qualify as candidates. Even
then, Independents are not allowed statements in the primary voters’
pamphlet. Oregon elections are based on a “separate but equal” doctrine:
Democrats and Republicans are subsidized while signature requirements are
imposed on Independents. For statewide partisan office, there are four separate
candidate-qualification standards based on party affiliation.
We need a preliminary election to weed out candidates
before the general election, but public
elections must be open to all candidates and voters on an equal basis. A single
nominating election where all candidates for each office compete regardless
of party affiliation. All voters are allowed to participate and only the top
two candidates for each office advance to the general election. Political
parties may endorse candidates at private functions prior to this election,
but these events must be conducted and financed by the political parties.
The Supreme Court will eventually strike down partisan elections in Oregon
because basic civil rights are violated. We can’t have democracy without
free elections and we don’t have free elections in Oregon.
http://thekeel.home.att.net
(This information furnished by The Keel.)