The major parties, both democratic and republican, are
concerned about one thing. Staying in power. And they do
this by silencing the voices of any opposition and creating
a false front that they are very different by focusing on the
"hot button" issues, but the truth is that no matter who is in
power the government continues to get larger, and more
intrusive. Every eight years or so the general public gets
tired of one party and votes the other party. They know
that the only real threat to their agenda is the voice of a
third party, that's why they pass laws to silence the
opposition.

How do they silence opposition?

The major parties have passed a number of laws to
ensure that they have the greatest advantage in any
election, including unfair ballot access laws and by using
taxpayer money for party primaries. The way that
Democrats and Republicans work to silencing the
opposition is by ensuring they can easily field candidates
while making it difficult for smaller parties to appear the
ballot. This is achieved through ballot access laws
requiring that potential third party candidates collect
thousands of signatures just to qualify, but not requiring
the major parties to petition even one signature. In
Missouri, an established party can field candidates by
simply filing a declaration of candidacy.To give you an
idea of how widespread this injustice is: Did you know hat it
takes 675,000 petition signatures for an independent
presidential candidate to get on the ballot in all 50 states
but a Democratic candidate only has to collect 1/26th of
that number? It's sad, but it's true. The other way that
Republicans and Democrats work to limit independent and
third party candidates is by giving themselves financial
advantages. They do this by using taxpayer money to fund
their party primaries. So while independent candidates and
other third parties use their own money to meet the
requirements for ballot access, the major parties are
allowed to spend tax-payer money for the same purpose.
This places independent voices at a disadvantage and the
major parties at an advantage, because by creating a
financial gap Democrats and Republicans are able to
spend more on their campaign efforts.

Why should you be concerned?

Without fair ballot access and equality in funding of
campaign finances, your government is effectively
censoring the opinion of many candidates, first by making
it difficult to qualify for ballot access to begin with and
secondly by developing a financially unequal campaign
environment. This means that you don't have a real voice
in electing the people who govern us, and the two parties
will continue to dominate our government and control your
lives.
How can it be fixed?

Well setting a fair ballot access requirement that all
candidates must meet is the first step. We should lowering
the number of signatures required for an independent or
third party candidate to get on the ballot. This lowers the
unequal financial burden currently imposed upon these
candidates and allows more varied voices to be
heard.Then we need to end the end the funding of primary
elections with tax payer money. Political Parties should all
have to hold and fund their own primaries and nominate
their own candidates. It isn't the role of the government to
assist in picking the candidates to represent each party,
it's the job of the party itself to decide how they want to
choose their candidate. All candidates would then have to
take financial responsibility for achieving ballot access and
campaigning instead of giving a financial advantage to
certain parties. As an added benefit this also means a
taxpayer no longer has to unwillingly support the operation
of ideologies he doesn't believe in.

What can I do to help?

Well you could call and write your senators and let them
know that this is an issue that needs to be taken seriously,
I'm sure they'd be glad to repeal the laws that keep them in
power...not.