Rigged Elections: Primary Coups & General Racketeering

Last month’s column closed with ‘money mill parasites’ driving our political outcomes. When the Republican Party told Trump they wouldn’t pay his mounting legal bills (remember, DJT is a big government modern Democrat, currently ‘donning’ the Red jersey who donated to fellow soviets like Kamala Harris) he made overtures to the Libertarian Party. Money mill parasites don’t care how donations are spent, or the outcome as long as they get their cut. Donations with the Biden crime family at the top of the ticket dropped sharply. Dramatics to re-prime the money mill and keep political Kabuki Theatre in full shriek is the usual formula… staging a close duopoly race until this election cycle’s racketeering ends Tuesday, November 5th.

The ‘primary coup’ is complete with Harris, Trump, et al political masters calling the shots. Alabama taxpayer money, voters’ time and effort were all for naught seeing the process and decision cast aside as money mill parasites directed. Some readers recalled https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2024/03/01/opinion

/trump-ballots-primary-corruption-and-general-collusion/2801.html explaining no shortage of disagreement on what constitutes a ‘coup’ or ‘insurrection’ in State cases w.r.t. ballot access for Mr. Trump. State provided primary ballots subsidizing Alabama’s soviet parties is nothing new in strongly duopolized

Alabama.

Some reports touted recent Trump ballot access decisions historic. Maine’s Secretary of State [Shenna Bellows] was the first to remove a presidential candidate from their State’s ballot ‘unilaterally’ (12/29/23 Denver AP report) as a top election official (mis)using the 14th Amendment’s Section 3 insurrection clause. Even more vulgar, Maine is one of those States unconstitutionally splitting electoral votes - i.e., just one of Maine’s 4 electoral votes may make a difference in razor close Electoral College outcomes. The AP report also noted Maine’s “unusual process in which a secretary of state is required to hold a public hearing on challenges to politicians’ spots on the ballot and then issue a ruling. Multiple groups of Maine voters, including a bipartisan clutch of former state lawmakers, filed such a challenge, triggering Bellows’ decision.”

Most Trump ballot access lawsuits were dismissed by courts asserting no authority over party primaries. True in States which do not subsidize party primaries, but Alabama taxpayers provide our primary elections. Effectively ‘fund-raisers’ for Democrat/Republican Parties, candidates pay their duopolist (usu. a function of the office’s salary) for ballot access. Alabamians are not obliged to provide PRIMARY elections as is true with GENERAL elections to satisfy Article 4, Section 4 requirements of the US Constitution guaranteeing our representative republic. Candidate payments to duopoly parties are not remitted to our Alabama Dept. of Treasury to offset expenses of primary elections using government resources; these collections are KEPT by our Blue/Red soviet parties. This anti-competitive wealth transfer is difficult to defeat, write-ins often aren't allowed on primary ballots where any candidate(s) could ‘sneak by’ and access general election ballots without paying ‘protection money’ to our political gangs.

While our Secretary of State had no trouble eliminating a general election to install Felon Hubbard’s desired replacement, he failed to eliminate clearly ineligible candidates in other races. If our State was not paying for primaries, parties may submit any candidate, legal or illegal; there’s no Secretary of State ‘oversight’ role. The Secretary’s office would later remove those determined ineligible on the general election ballot our State is obliged to provide. Voters still may write-in someone ineligible by State law who shall be removed after general elections proffer ineligible winners. Sadly, Secretary Merrill seemed exasperated at times with our corrupt ethics commission who did little to discipline duopoly candidate/party malfeasance.

General election racketeering in our State, with some of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation further aids and abets our uncompetitive, unrepresentative results. Will Trump be removed if installed again? - the next rigged, unconstitutional result will certainly install another duopoly thug as the general election winner. Extremely unlikely our State (or any other State) will make a racketeering case upon installing Harris on their general elections ballots by improper process. Rules do not (or selectively) apply to duopoly party thugs. Other readers recalled the September 2022 column on the next step in stealing elections in Alabama via closed primaries [https://www.alabamagazette.com

story/2022/09/01/opinion/stealing-elections-in-alabama-next-step-close-primaries/2414.html] being championed by our Blue and Red soviet parties.

If Democrats/Republicans want to determine their general election candidates submitted via convention, election, pin the tail on the Donkey/Elephant, smoke filled room… you get the idea, as a PRIVATE entity on their own purse - great! Pay for your own convention facility, use your own voting machines or rent our public ones at documented cost, buy your own Donkey/Elephant board… then the party as a private entity can decide (degree of open/closed) participation however they please. Once a party takes taxpayer money to purchase the facility, voting machine, smoke blower, etc. then citizens have the right to access/vote in every primary determination they’re subsidizing. Can you imagine how different our general election choices may be with this more competitive/reflective result?

No doubt ability to participate in every party’s primary provided on the public purse, would increase participation and reduce manipulation via low turnout results. I wanted to vote in BOTH the primaries I paid for this election cycle. None dare dream this sort of political competition/participation being championed by our colluding soviet parties. Don’t expect this sort of fidelity to tax-payers and competition from our traditional Republican Party Executive Committee, drunk with the power of supermajority and hegemony.

In fact, one of the most deleterious Red soviets in our State (ALGOP Chairman John Wahl) used the morass this public servant created by failing to adhere to Alabama Code Section 17 duties to address crossover as the excuse for further closing our primaries. Again, there’s no standing as a taxpayer against a party’s closed primary by a private entity determining their candidates on their own purse. Sadly the duopoly parties are further stealing elections by closing primaries provided on the public purse and putting the taxpayers on the hook for even greater burden/waste of time and money administering/enforcing/tracking party registrations in States with this anti-competitive impediment in place.

Duopoly convergence as Republicans grow more collusive/anti-competitive in business and politics is noteworthy of our super-majority. The Secretary of State’s office once again abdicated their oversight role over political parties which do not follow code/laws w.r.t. candidates ineligible to be placed on ballots at the time; especially when a party takes taxpayer dollars; legislator fidelity belongs to the taxpayer, not party politburo members. If parties are private entities the legislature’s job is to secure each citizen’s enjoyment of life, liberty and property within that party. Sadly most on Goat Hill are more interested in promoting wealth transfers to specific interest over the general welfare of Alabamians.

No surprise the LPA Chair Gavin Goodman had a different perspective on closed primaries than our duopoly party chairs, providing the following quote. “The Libertarian Party of Alabama has no problem with the ALGOP proposal to go to a ‘closed primary system’ in Alabama. We believe each party should choose their candidates however they like. What we can not abide is use of taxpayer dollars to fund these closed primaries. If ALGOP wants a closed primary, then pay for it themselves. If they want to take even one red cent of taxpayer money to fund primaries then Alabama citizens have every right to participate fully and we would then call for a fully open primary where every citizen could vote in whatever primary they want.” Not to put words in Mr. Goodman’s mouth but that means one, both, ALL primaries provided on the public purse.

The set deadline for ALL candidates to be placed on our general election was August 23, 2024. In an unsubsidized election, each candidate must submit uniform payment to be listed on the actual/general election ballot; an amount determined by the marginal expense(s) of placing another candidate printed/counted on ballots in excess of the fixed cost taxpayers are obliged to pay. This would eliminate the waste of candidates collecting and voters signing petitions which bureaucrats must then also waste their resources and time

verifying. No doubt our soviet parties will despise disempowering their duopoly and losing this protection of their hyper gerry-mandered political gang turf.

How much was wasted on primaries and run-offs (with even LESS participation) to determine which big govt. candidates are placed on restricted GENERAL election ballots? Clearly State taxpayers are on the hook to pay the fixed cost of general elections; one may take candidates more seriously when they must pay the marginal cost of being on the ballot for their competitive races. Obviously the fee to be on a Statewide ballot would be greater than a countywide race. Alabama Republocrats will never support this sort of cost saving and competition as more voters simply refuse to waste their vote on Harris/Trump types - exactly what the politburo wants.

Any non-duopoly political party wanting access/inclusion on the upcoming Nov. 5th general election ballot printing was required to submit over 51,000 verified signatures. Along with the history of snubbing voters’ civil rights, being blocked from ballots, debates, media coverage, etc. a non-duopoly (i.e., NOT Democrat/ Republican) candidate must receive 20% of the total Gubernatorial votes cast in a statewide race to retain ballot access. The next highest, last I checked, was Kentucky at 10%. Ironic how much worse the Republicans (many former long-time Democrats currently wearing the Red jersey like Reagan, Trump, et al types) have evolved these past decades. It’d be revealing to enumerate how many Republican candidates would’ve been blocked/not allowed ballot access when Alabama was die hard Blue soviet before passing the current Red super-majority soviet rules. These rules have proven very effective barriers to protect establishment politicians and silence non-duopoly party and independent voices/voters. Those not blinded by the Alabama politburo find it is easy to see/understand how this is aiding and abetting our corrupt status quo.

So once again, many voters across our forced coalition of States will show on Nov. 5th bemoaning the terrible duopoly choices, giving little thought on how political racketeering produced such poor, uncompetitive choices put before them. No doubt Alabama’s 9 electoral votes will go to the Red soviet, just as decades ago Alabama electoral votes were certain for the Blue soviets. Don’t expect to see many Harris or Trump political ads in Alabama unless there’s a miraculous showing of voters polling to vote non-duopoly putting our State in play to get the soviets’ ear. If Trump had picked a sound VP like Asa Hutchinson, I’d consider voting Republican. More interesting is listening to fed-up voters who refuse to ‘stay on the couch’ again. Write-in names from Chase Oliver, Cornell West, Jill Stein to still writing in RFK, Jr. are bantered about. My personal favourite is Ken Jennings for President! Profoundly illustrates a stark difference from the intellect and spirit of Comrades Harris/Trump, where our

nation could have someone like Jennings to admire and trust in the White House.

Postscript: Thanks for all the comments on last month’s Ballots v. Bullets column. Pleased so many read to the end and took to heart reporter John Brice’s quote on gagging our pharmacists, slowly being strangled out of existence. Keep the letters going to Montgomery - seems this has finally got Gov. Ivey’s attention. While you’re at it, those who know any lobbyists, tell them you’re mad as a hornet on this and will be watching other issues where the ACCA, BCA, et al political thugs are destroying our health and safety in Alabama.

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.