The Colorado ballot this year lists 22 candidates for president along with their would-be vice presidents – including Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the only ones with a chance of winning. There is also a line for a write-in candidate.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is nuts. Worse, it costs the taxpayers money and county clerks time and effort.
All would-be presidents have to do to be on the ballot is prove they are constitutionally qualified – 35 years old, a natural born citizen – and come up with $1,000 and nine friends. That $1,000 is the filing fee for the state, which the Legislature raised from $500 earlier this year. Louisiana is the only other state where presidential aspirants can effectively buy their way onto the ballot, for $500 there.
As a practical matter, there would probably be an extra C-note required for a couple rounds of drinks to corral those nine friends. They would serve as the candidate’s delegation to the Electoral College.
Still, for about $1,100 and a trip to your local watering hole, wanna-be world leaders can get their names on the Colorado ballot as candidates for president. There, they would be shown among unfamiliar names representing such parties as American Delta, Independent People, Nonviolent Resistance/Pacifist, Socialist USA and, of course, unaffiliated, which presumably means there are just those two people.
Moreover, the write-in line is not what it would seem. Voters cannot just write-in somebody’s name. (They can, but it will not be counted.) Write-in candidates must file papers with the state showing that they meet the constitutional qualifications and have their nine friends lined up, too. A dozen have done just that, but their names do not appear on the ballot.
Still, that makes 34 people running for president, which is ridiculous. But this looney tune is also an expensive waste of time.
One Denver-area county had to spend $90,000 adding to its ballot.
We all value voting, but allowing so many candidates does not advance democracy. The Legislature should consider reforming the process. County clerks have enough to do.
