VOTE NO TO POLITICAL BOSSISM

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 3, 1993                   TAG: 9304050237
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
VOTE NO TO POLITICAL BOSSISM
THE PRACTICE of democracy in Virginia is spelled demockery. Take a look at the caucus system used by both political parties to see how party bosses control the election process.
This year, in order to participate in the nominating process, you are required to sign an oath of allegiance to one party and declare opposition to anyone other than the party nominee. Clearly, you are required to forfeit your freedom of choice to vote for the person you believe is best qualified for the job. After you sign this declaration, you may enter the caucus room where, at a precise time, the doors are closed to the public. Now the party bosses have you under their control.
There is usually a fee that must be paid before they begin to massage your mind. Recently, I have seen where the Republican Party also requires your Social Security number! You now belong to the elite (controlled) group that will appear to decide on the nominees for public office - the practice of demockery.
In 1989, the Republican gubernatorial nomination was decided by everyone who cared to exercise the voting privilege in a June primary election - the practice of democracy.
Jamin B. Raskin, a law professor at the American University in Washington, recently commented on Virginia Republicans' plans to choose this year's gubernatorial nominee at a convention of party regulars instead of a primary, open to all voters. He said, "This is a potential violation of the Voting Rights Act, because a primary is clearly a more open process than a convention - especially for minorities, who traditionally have been excluded from political participation."
Gov. Wilder, where are you? Oh, I forgot, he's running for president - or is it the Senate?
Joe Elton, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia, has been quoted as saying that no one has objected to the party's decision to return to a nominating convention. Did he ask the voters?
Elton and both the Republican and Democrat parties in Virginia are put on notice of my objections to the nominating process being used. To underscore my argument, the nominees for governor (Mary Sue Terry, Democrat, and George Allen, Republican) have all but been declared and the conventions have not yet taken place. This is a classic example of why Virginia ranks as one of the nation's "dismal dozen" in voter turnout and election laws.
According to a study by the Institute for Southern Studies, Virginia ranked 37 among the 50 states in voter turnout in the 1992 presidential election. Robert Hall, author of the study, blamed laws that give citizens the impression that "politics is for the rich and powerful."
I urge all Virginians to reject demockery by exercising their voting privilege for a write-in candidate of their choice. Let's show the party bosses how to stuff the ballot box in a democratic manner. Voters who support Ms. Terry or Allen should use the write-in option to send a message that Virginians will not tolerate political bossism or a political process that makes a mockery of constitutional democracy. LEO A. DEMERS STAUNTON

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB