Voters in November will decide if Michigan will rewrite the state constitution. Some argue that a new constitutional convention is an unnecessary step when changes can be more surgically made by individual amendment.
But that may be the wrong debate. If the constitution is to be changed ... the far more important question is this: Will the change significantly benefit the way our state operates?
In that vein, we offer a significant change: Why not eliminate the bipartisan extremism by making all elections non-partisan?
That could be the type of major change that could change for the better the way that our state is governed. ...
At least part of the problem in Lansing is that loyalty to political parties appears to trump service to constituents. Because of the way districts are drawn, many lawmakers come from predominantly Republican or Democratic areas.
That means ... the primary election with lower turnout and more partisan voters ... tends to decide the November results. Livingston County is a prime example. ...
The same is true at the township level where party affiliation usually carries the day. ...
Judges, school boards and some city councils are elected on non-partisan ballots.
Taking the partisanship out of other elections in the state could be beneficial.
It's hard to imagine that it could be worse than what we now see -- a bitter tug-of-war in which only those who buy into party dogma have a place at the table. ...
Daily Press & Argus
(Livingston County)
