Ballot Access - North Korea vs USA

From CNN (although I could have used numerous other sources, all mocking the idea that North Korea actually has an election process):

This Sunday, North Koreans will be required to show their assent for this political system at general elections universally expected to return the current incumbent Kim Jong Un.

 

While critics say the poll is merely a political show to legitimize the country's rubber stamp parliament -- previous elections in 2009 returned Kim Jong il (Kim Jong Un's predecessor and father) with a 100% mandate on a 99.98% turnout -- observers will be poring over the list of legislators for clues as to how Kim will govern the Communist nation over the next five years.

Kim himself is running for a seat in the Paekusan Constituency No.111; significant because the numbers are regarded as auspicious in Korean culture and because North Korea claims Mount Paektu, located in Paekusan on the border with China, to be the legendary birthplace of his father.

 

The ruling Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland holds all 687 seats within the Supreme People's Assembly and voters have only one candidate to vote for in each of the seats.

 

While the umbrella grouping officially contains four parties -- the Workers' Party of Korea, the Korean Social Democratic Party, the Cheondoist Chongu Party and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan -- all candidates must be sanctioned by the party including three independents currently sitting as deputies in the assembly.

 

While it is possible for a voter to cast a ballot against a candidate, they must walk to a special booth to do so. Critics say few are brave enough to cross out the name on the ballot.

 

From The New York Holy Times (although I could have used numerous other sources, all mocking the idea that the USA actually has an election process):

 

Two Libertarian candidates were tossed from Ohio’s primary ballot on Friday by Secretary of State Jon Husted in a ruling that sparked immediate plans for a legal challenge. Mr. Husted, a Republican, said he had adopted a hearing officer’s recommendations in disqualifying a candidate for governor, Charlie Earl, and an attorney general candidate, Steven Linnabary.

 

Their nominating petitions were challenged on two grounds: that signature gatherers failed to comply with Ohio laws requiring them to be either Libertarian or a political independent and another requiring them to disclose their employer.

 

Mark Brown, a lawyer for the Libertarian Party of Ohio, said it will challenge the decision in federal court. He said the ballot protests were an extension of Republican efforts to keep second third parties off the state’s ballot.

 

Mr. Earl could draw votes from Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, in his re-election bid this fall.

 

So.... We Libertarian Party folks are accustomed to skullduggery from the Beltway Party, trying to keep us off the ballot.  (I won't deny that we sometimes stumble when trying to get over the hurdles they place before us.) 

 

But it does appear that North Korea does offer an easier process for other parties to be represented. 

 

Just go to the alternative booth to vote for someone other than those in power.   

 

I've often said that it's easier for a Southern Baptist to get on the ballot in Saudi Arabia than it is for a Libertarian to get on the ballot in Oklahoma.  Or Ohio. 

 

And we are the country that sends its army and navy all over the world to guarantee free and fair elections. 

 

 

 

 

The Gerrymanders where the west begins

Fort Worth, Texas is known as the place "where the west begins".   This post is about the Fort Worth Gerrymanders - the name I'm going to give a pro sports team if I'm ever rich enough to buy one. 

Gerrymandering is the dark art of fashioning voter districts to give one party or candidate an edge over another.  The term goes back to 1812, when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry shaped some districts into the shape of something looking like a salamander.  A rival looked at the new map, agreed, and then quipped (for the ages) "It looks more like a Gerrymander". 

Here's a contemporary cartoon. 

In the USA, we have a census every 10 years.  Political districts are then re-drawn by whichever party is in power.  This is why American politicians make such a big deal of controlling Congress in the cycle after a census. 

Congress (and state legislatures) draw maps for new districts.  The party out of power always takes the issue to court, and is usually able to prove that a minority group doesn't have a proper set-aside district. 

(I once read on some typically nasty British website that the USA has two racial groups - "Black" and "Not Black".  I hate that idea, but I cannot argue with it.  To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever fought a court battle to give Asians, Scandinavians, French, Germans, etc., proper representation in government.) 

The courts then mess with it, and we wind up with districts that make Ellbridge's Gerrymander look as simple as Colorado. 

I'm Chairman of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party.  Please enjoy these maps of the Tarrant districts where I'm trying to recruit candidates for the 2014 elections.  In some races, the candidate must live in the district at the time of the election (or for some time earlier).  In others, he must commit to moving there if he wins.  All in all, candidates face a tough battle if they haven't lived in the (ahem) district for quite some time. 

Texas has its own House Of Representatives and its own Senate.  Here are the TX House districts that fall within Tarrant county.  All of these districts sensibly end at the county lines.  All of the money is in 97 and 96.  The military-industrial complex is in 99.  I think 93 is some kind of Hispanic carve-out.  To the best of my knowledge, 98 has a lot of cows.  92 is suburban sprawl.  90 is black.  95 is dark black. 
Please note 90 and 95.  What possible combination of tribalism, racism and paternalism could possibly motivate a court to draw districts like those?   

Here are the Tarrant county Texas Senate districts.  (There are 150 members of the House, but only 31 in the Senate.  Therefore, most of the Senate districts cross county lines.)

Enjoy the cartographic majesty of District 9.  It looks like there's one place in the northeast where the district is less than a block wide.  Bear in mind, this is the same county as shown above!

Here's the map for the U.S. Congressional Districts, the guys who get to go to D.C. and bring home the really big bucks.  On this map, I've shown some of the surrounding counties (Wise, Denton, Dallas, Parker and Johnson) since Congressional districts are much, much larger. 
Whoever drew District 33 sees the world through racist glasses.  He or she might love racial minorities, but no color-blind judge would've ever drawn that godawful mess on a map. 

My little tribe of liberty-lovers is doing well with candidate recruiting. 
Just wanted to post these maps so people in other countries could see the bizarre mess we're up against. 
What's sad about this process is that Black Americans often get their own "safe"district/ghetto, so there is one area, however strangely defined, where someone cares about them and their votes. 
But if these race-based districts were carved up and blended in with the rest?  There would be dozens of areas where politicians had to care about them and their votes. 
Good job, racists. 
 

Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup, Thursday Night at Fort Worth Food Truck Park !!

Food Trucks. The police harass them. Brick and mortar stores don't like them. Tax collectors are frustrated by them. And consumers LOVE them!

An entrepreneur has found a compromise by creating the Fort Worth Food Park, a small enclave that holds about a dozen of these rolling restaurants until they're finally free to drive at will about the city, committing acts of agricultural capitalism.

 So is this not the perfect spot for an Libertarian Party Meetup??? ...

The Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup is going to get together at the Fort Worth Food Park, 2509 Weisenberger Street (behind the Target Shopping center near Montgomery Ward Plaza and West 7th Street) on September 19th at 7:00 p.m.

In addition to eating some great food with great people, we'll have Robert Harris, who is running for the State House nomination for District 94 give us a quick talk about his campaign, why he's running, and how you can help.

Stay tuned to this page (or the Tarrant LP Facebook page) if we have bad weather. The Fort Worth Food Park is near the 7th Street development, and we'll go somewhere in that area if it rains.

The trucks scheduled to be there on the 19th are: Holy Frijole, Life is Sweet, Sauzy, The Que, Three Lions, and What's Cook-N Chef. Good food. Good people. Good Libertarian Party politics !! Hope to see you there.