Sarasota News Leader

01/17/2014

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Sarasota News Leader January 17, 2014 OPINION crowd), misogynists and "better dead than red" zealots who make up the vocal lunatic fringe of the local Republican Party. Their influence is almost as significant as that of the developers, given their ability to organize the fearful and get them to the polls to vote for the radicals of their choice. Page 88 More important, there would be no party primaries. All voters would be allowed to vote in a first primary election that would determine a winner if one person received a majority of votes. If not, the top two vote-getters would proceed to a second, runoff election. The plan has been adopted in five other charWhen the cosmic forces align the interests of ter counties in Florida, including three of the the moneyed bigwigs state's most populous and the lunatic fringe, ones: Leon, Miamino rational candidate The nonpartisan plan has been Dade, Orange, Volusia has any hope of win- adopted in five other charter counties in and Columbia. ning a Republican Florida, including three of the state's most primary. Some suc- populous ones: Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, So why are voters not poised to decide on this cessful candidates Volusia and Columbia. change to the Sarasota might seem rational, County charter? but they scrupulously serve their masters Because organizers while in office. The have been … well, discost to good government and the citizens of organized. Matters have been complicated by Sarasota County is incalculable. their mistaken effort to get permission from A ray of sunshine briefly shone through the Florida Board of Elections, a body conthis miasmic fog last spring, when it was trolled by Republicans with the sole purpose announced in May that a new PAC, Open Our of ensuring that most candidates elected are Elections, had been formed to begin gathering Republicans. Predictably, the state elections signatures of county voters for an initiative office told the organizers that state law would to amend the county charter and make all not allow them to hold such a referendum. county elected positions nonpartisan. Never mind that five other charter counties The plan was simple: Voters would cast bal- already have done so, and any effort by the lots on amending the county's charter to allow state to invalidate Sarasota County's initiative all county offices — county commissioners, would run into heated opposition from those tax collector, supervisor of elections, prop- five counties. erty appraiser, clerk of court and sheriff — to become nonpartisan. Any registered voter In addition, Robert Butterworth, state attorcould file for an open office, and voters would ney general in 2000, assured Lee County that not see a little "R" or "D" next to that person's charter counties have every right to shift some or all of their county offices to nonpartisan: name to indicate party affiliation.

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