To the editor:
On numerous occasions, I have urged voters to support third-party candidates.
I have denounced the Republicans and Democrats as cartels that control the political system with the intent of quashing competition. This is not mere rhetoric; Democrats and Republicans use their various levers of power to disenfranchise third parties for their mutual benefit.
The Commission on Presidential Debates — the sponsor, producer, and moderator of the debates — is jointly controlled by the Democratic and Republican parties.
Prior to 1988, the League of Women Voters filled this role, but withdrew support of the debate commission after the collusion of candidates Bush and Dukakis to control panelists, stating “the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter.”
They were right. The establishment-controlled debates commission has since instituted a requirement of 15 percent support across five national polls in order for candidates to be eligible to participate in the debates.
The polling and news agencies do not list or ask about third parties, thanks to the feedback loop created by the Democratic and Republican assertions that the candidates are “not viable.” Thus, despite having enough support to have ballot access in a majority of states, most voters will never know the names of “non-viable” candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson until voting day.
The Republican Party has even gone so far as to sue to keep Libertarian Gary Johnson off the ballot in several states, claiming he didn’t meet access requirements. The Democrats, for their part, are content to use fear of Republicans to control voters who might otherwise vote Green.
The problems that plague this country will not cease while the establishment parties feel that their respective bases will continue to support them despite their misdeeds. A mass exodus from both parties must happen to begin to restore our failing democracy.
ANDREW TARR
Gloucester
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