Some state legislators want to add “creating a signature” to civics classes. The marketing focuses on John Hancock, but the proposal is somewhat more meaningful than the usual civics crap.
It turns out that poor signatures are a real problem for voting officials. Mail ballots require a signature which is checked against the original on file. Young people get rejected more often than old because their signatures aren’t constant enough to pass the test.
If “elections” existed, this might be worth doing. The REAL problem is that “elections” have no function, so the details of “voting” are utterly irrelevant. Young people accurately perceive that the game is permanently rigged, so they don’t waste effort on gambling.
Manweller’s Rule: Elections only count when they don’t change anything. A candidate who threatens to improve things will be kept out of the election, or defunded and shadowbanned by the parties. A referendum that could make life better will be rejected by the courts or the legislature.
Change only happens when a ruler who is solidly established as elite changes his mind and starts ruling differently.
Manweller is glaringly obvious here in Spokane. Occasionally a non-standard candidate gets “elected” to the city “council”. He is quickly removed, and the “council” appoints a new member who will reliably maintain the horrible status quo.
First prove to us that an “election” makes a difference. Allow non-standard candidates to run, give them solid party support, and let them stay in office. Allow non-standard referendums to stand, and IMPLEMENT them. Then we might be more interested in the DETAILS of “voting”.
Polistra's Mill 