A “No” on Question #3 is a Win for Democracy

To the Editor,

In recent years, I’ve noticed a pattern of accounts of what Republicans may be doing to eliminate democracy. 

We live in Massachusetts, where the first gerrymander was created in 1812.  The gerrymander is still very much in use in Massachusetts with the result that all the congressmen and senators from Massachusetts are Democrats, even though Donald Trump received 36% of the Massachusetts vote in the last presidential election.

More recently, Boston had an election for mayor in which there was only one person on the ballot.  This was due to the fact that, for all the political parties in Boston, there is only one primary and only the top two voters-getters can be put on the final ballot for mayor.  The Democrats had passed a law that only allows for the one collective primary for all parties.  As only 4% of the Boston voters are registered Republicans it makes it impossible for a Republican to ever get on the Boston ballot for mayor.  

It has been almost 100 years since Boston has had a Republican Mayor (1930).  A ballot with only one person might be expected in Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, etc., but in a democracy, the voter must have a choice of more than one candidate and more than one political party.

My biggest concern for the future of Massachusetts is the ballot Question #3, which is on the November ballot.  If the state votes for Question #3 it would (as the ballot reads), “Eliminate political party primaries for state elections and create a single primary where candidates are listed regardless of their political party.”  

As only 8.4% of Massachusetts voters are Republicans and 56% are Democrats, the implementation of Question 3 would make it next to impossible for an independent, or a Republican, to ever get on the final ballot.  Such an action would eliminate democracy in Massachusetts, and the state would become a dictatorship of the Democrats.

The hope is that in the November election the voters will recognize the damage Question #3 would do to Massachusetts and the country. 

Please, vote “No.”

Samuel Cabot

Beverly Farms