Thread by @jallen1985

THREAD: MS's election code shifts power away from median voters and bolsters hyperpartisans instead by setting early qualifying deadlines for independent candidates.

A simple change to the MS election code would and should fix this. 1/

I'll use this year's election for MS's fourth Congressional District as an example.

Steven Palazzo won only 2/3 of GOP primary votes, suggesting that a substantial minority of Palazzo's GOP constituents are dissatisfied. (As are Palazzo's Democratic constituents!) 2/

But after the GOP primary, no one contested Palazzo in the general. Why?

Well, Democrats did not run because Palazzo's seat is gerrymandered to be safe for Republicans. So how about an independent challenger (like someone who voted to change the flag)? 3/

https://twitter.com/jallen1985/status/1346901729019834373

The 2020 general election would have been an IDEAL opportunity for @JoelCarterMS @JeremyEnglandMS or @bricewigginsMS, for a few examples, to challenge Palazzo. Any of them might have won on a coalition of moderate Republicans and other voters.

The problem is... 4/

...that unlike most states (see below), Mississippi requires candidates running as independents to file for ballot access at the same time as candidates running in partisan primaries.

So, when it became apparent on January 10 that no Democrat challenged Palazzo... 5/

...it was already too late for anyone could file to run an independent campaign against Palazzo.

This system should offend anyone who believes that voters should have a choice when they go to the polls and vote in general elections. 6/

One way to fix this (as I often suggest) is to abandon partisan primaries altogether and switch to another system like a top-two primary or ranked-choice voting.

Another (perhaps easier) way to fix this is to simply move the qualifying deadline... 7/

...so that candidates can file to appear on the ballot as independents after primaries occur.

If MS had such a system in 2020, then @JoelCarterMS @JeremyEnglandMS or @bricewigginsMS might be a current member of Congress, and Steven Palazzo would be unemployed. 8/

If the same thing occurs in the future in Mississippi's fourth Congressional District, then @KentMcCarty @MissyWMcGee and @JansenOwen could also be promising challengers.

The point is that the goal in a democracy should be to give voters a choice in general elections. 9/

Mississippi's current system, on a *good* day, only gives voters a choice between two party nominees for offices that one party is almost assured to hold.

And on a bad day, it gives us no choice in the general election at all. 10/

We should reform the system to maximize the likelihood that at least two viable candidates appear on the ballot in as many of our general elections as possible. 11/

I'll add that any of the proposals I mention above would just about guarantee that legislators who abuse their wives do not win re-election.

For more information about any such legislators, ask @margar45 and @CAnitaLee1. 12/
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