Eliminate Single Party Rule – Support Ballot Access Reform

As everyone saw on the ballots this past election day, there were at most two choices for any of the Federal elections in the state, as well as for most (if not all) of the local races as well. Remember that this is not for a lack of political opinion or alternative partisan feeling in Virginia, but instead is due to an explicit legislative barrier set up by the two wings of the Duopoly- it is enshrined in the Virginia Code that only the Republicans and Democrats are recognized as official Political Parties in the Commonwealth, and for another party to achieve that status they must earn 10% or more of the vote in a statewide election; and prior to doing so, must jump through increasingly onerous signature-gathering efforts to even put their candidate on the ballot in the first place. All while the Duopoly candidates simply have to fill out a declaration of candidacy and they appear.

To achieve real representation of the people, and not force them into artificial and tacit coalitions with the current major parties, we need to eliminate this artificial state barrier to the ballot. We need more choices on the ballot, more voices in the elections, and ultimately more independent voices with votes in the Assembly to accurately represent the people of Virginia.

(Virginia Code Defining recognized Political Party)