Got it! Friend misunderstood lack of Democrats on election ballot/Nebraska (Not for political debate

[bcla]

My friend lives in Bellevue. Big military town so big red maybe her particular ballot didn’t have opponents?
Thanks

I tried looking up a random Sarpy County sample ballot, but every polling place I select indicates no sample ballot available.

I did double check and there were a few races where a candidate ran unopposed, such as Attorney General and State Treasurer. As someone noted, the state legislature is theoretically nonpartisan. It's also a top-two ("jungle") primary. However, there are still a few unopposed candidates, which most likely means that nobody bothered to run against an incumbent.

http://www.sos.ne.gov/elec/2018/pdf/forms/statewide-candidate-list.pdf
https://electionresults.sos.ne.gov/resultsSW.aspx?text=Race&type=LD&map=DIST

 

[Callie]

I see it for a lot of our local races here. Only one name on the ballet for one party. I figure no one else ran.

 

[Allison]

Should we force people on the ballot just so there are more choices? Draw names out of a hat to see what names get put on the ballot? It could be some weird form of the Hunger Games.

 

[alldiz]

I'm not sure you're understanding what we're saying. Your friend in Nebraska didn't have a Democrat on her ballot because the Democratic Party in Nebraska decided not to run anyone for that seat, or couldn't find anyone who wanted to run for that seat. How is that democracy being sold to the highest bidder? It's the system working exactly as it should.

Poor word choice.
Just hard to comprehend.
And I’m just adding up all the money and campaigning it would take to run.
Challenging to say the least

 

[mom2rtk]

Every state should be able to have a republican and a Democrat on every election ballot. Honeslty there should be an independent also.
There is literally no choice for the person who wants to switch sides blue.
Because corect me if I’m wrong
Are there any blue states in the planet that does not have a Republican on be ticket. Think about tbat

What? Of course it happens the other way as well.

 

[bcla]

There's always a choice. Vote for who is on the ballot, write in a candidate, don't vote at all.

In a top-two primary system, there's no write-in space for a general election. We've got that in California, and the legislative elections in Nebraska apparently have a similar system. I think the difference is that party affiliation is still used in California, but Nebraska's legislature is declared to be nonpartisan.

 

[bcla]

Poor word choice.
Just hard to comprehend.
And I’m just adding up all the money and campaigning it would take to run.
Challenging to say the least

Well I found all partisan elections in Nebraska this year, and other than AG and Treasurer, all had at least two candidates.

I found info saying that the filing fee is 1% of the annual salary of the position.

http://www.sos.ne.gov/elec/pdf/filing-fee-schedule.pdf

Still - there are various reasons why one party might not mount a candidate. There's never been anything unusual about a candidate running unopposed.

 

[Southernmiss]

In a top-two primary system, there's no write-in space for a general election. We've got that in California, and the legislative elections in Nebraska apparently have a similar system. I think the difference is that party affiliation is still used in California, but Nebraska's legislature is declared to be nonpartisan.

Still a choice. Don't vote.

 

[alldiz]

Well I found all partisan elections in Nebraska this year, and other than AG and Treasurer, all had at least two candidates.

I found info saying that the filing fee is 1% of the annual salary of the position.

http://www.sos.ne.gov/elec/pdf/filing-fee-schedule.pdf

Still - there are various reasons why one party might not mount a candidate. There's never been anything unusual about a candidate running unopposed.

Thanks for all your info!
Late to the party with “one party politics”
From NY and a “blue”state apparently plenty of money to run all candidates.
Just really did surprise me that so many people really don’t have a real choice when they vote.... because they live in a place where there is NO choice on the ballot. And yes that works both ways!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I get it and thanks for your informational response
Just ignorantly didn’t realize that every American that goes to the poll does not actually have a choice.

Millions of people don’t “really” have a choice at the national level in states like NY and WY where everyone knows the outcome of the election before Election Day. That’s why voter turnout is usually highest in contested states.

 

[alldiz]

Millions of people don’t “really” have a choice at the national level in states like NY and WY where everyone knows the outcome of the election before Election Day. That’s why voter turnout is usually highest in contested states.

I know and the electoral college recently has taught us this. One of the things most of us learned and never understood the relevance.
But honestly I just put my ignorance on full display...
I just thought every American that went to the poll on Election Day had their choice with a name for all parties.
Not so much ok

 

[bethbuchall]

It happens in races in NYS, too. The incumbent state senator from our district ran unopposed. Locally, the Coroner was also unopposed in the last election.

 

[Allison]

You had never heard of someone running unopposed?

 

[bcla]

I just thought every American that went to the poll on Election Day had their choice with a name for all parties.
Not so much ok

Depends. I've heard in some states it's possible to simply mark a party line vote for

In California we've got the top two primary now, and I don't recall any race with it where a candidate ran unopposed in the general election. Some races were pretty tight.

 

[bcla]

If they ask for a recount, a Democrat will probably win.

No. Alaska just had a hand recount of a legislative race. Also didn't change the outcome in Florida after an automatic recount was required by law.

https://www.apnews.com/3864c2b6fb1b4aecad63e01bf14f2b9e
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Latest on a tied Alaska House race that could decide control of Alaska state government (all times local):

5:52 p.m.

Republican Bart LeBon has won an Alaskan state House race after a recount showed him winning by one vote.

State of Alaska election officials said a Friday recount in Juneau showed LeBon beat Democrat Kathryn Dodge.

Before Friday’s recount, both candidates were tied with 2,661 votes apiece.

A mystery ballot found on a table in a voting precinct was tossed Friday after officials said it was determined to be a spoiled ballot from a voter who had made a mistake on it, told officials and then filled out a new ballot.

Dodge has five days to decide whether she will appeal the outcome.

If LeBon’s win holds, the GOP would control the House, Senate and governor’s office.​

 

[Wendy31]

I live in a very red state - one of the reddest, actually.

And, in one of our local elected offices (I can't remember which one - maybe the County Clerk or Tax Assessor?), for the past few elections, there has been only one choice, a Democrat. And I always vote for the person.

Along these same lines...

After the last mid-terms, I started thinking re blue & red states & how it must feel to live in state that usually ends up going opposite how you vote.

For instance, I live in a red state, &, most of the time (most - not all!), I end up voting red - not necessarily because I'm purposefully voting red - that's just how it ends up. (I don't even think I'm an official registered Republican). Anyway, most of the time, my state goes the way of my vote.

But, I started wondering how it it would feel if I lived in a blue state & voted the way I normally do, but my state was consistently opposite my vote... how would I feel? Or vice versa - someone who votes blue but lives in a consistent red state.

I understand the electoral college & why we need it, & this isn't about the electoral college.

But I think, after a while, it'd start to feel a little depressing & like "why even vote at all?"

 

[Imzadi]

Full disclosure. I live in NY which is a “blue” state. I have only voted in this state. I am a registered Democrat. I go to my polling place and I can choose a democrat or republican candidate. I don’t vote blue always I vote the person and their agenda.

I guess I am just ignorant!
All the money spent is ridiculous!!
Each party should get a free space on the ballot. Each party puts a name. Then all the money can be spent on pushing a specific person forward.
Whoever wins wins.
And in most cases it will follow the money of campaigning. Ie red state Republican, blue democrat.

From NY and a “blue”state apparently plenty of money to run all candidates.

You keep mentioning that NY is a "blue" state. That is only technically true. NYS is blue because of the sheer numbers of democrats that live in NYC (8 million) and lower NYS - adjacent to NYC. The more north & west one goes, the more "red" the state actually is. They just don't have the 8million+ that we have in NYC. That's generally why there is always both parties represented in NYS elections. Our state is rather 2-colored.

If you followed the campaigning and the campaign money spent in this state, you'd have seen Hillary & Cuomo generally were always campaigning up north, like around Buffalo & Cortland. They come into the city & L.I. for fundraisers and to touch base with their home base. But, the majority of their campaigning was way upstate to try to win the independent voters and to swing what republican votes they can, along with the voters, as you, yourself said, who vote for the agenda they agree the most with, regardless of party.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I see it for a lot of our local races here. Only one name on the ballet for one party. I figure no one else ran.

Same here. My kids' high school elected a student body president who ran unopposed.

 

[Southernmiss]

I live in a very red state - one of the reddest, actually.

And, in one of our local elected offices (I can't remember which one - maybe the County Clerk or Tax Assessor?), for the past few elections, there has been only one choice, a Democrat. And I always vote for the person.

Along these same lines...

After the last mid-terms, I started thinking re blue & red states & how it must feel to live in state that usually ends up going opposite how you vote.

For instance, I live in a red state, &, most of the time (most - not all!), I end up voting red - so my state goes the way of my vote.

But, I started wondering how it it would feel if I lived in a blue state & voted the way I normally do, but my state was consistently opposite my vote... how would I feel? Or vice versa - someone who votes blue but lives in a consistent red state.

I understand the electoral college & why we need it, & this isn't about the electoral college.

But I think, after a while, it'd start to feel a little depressing & like "why even vote at all?"

My views have changed in the last 4 or so years

Yes, it is frustrating to vote and feel like no matter what, the winner will not be your candidate and you shake your head and hope for a different outcome next time

 

[Imzadi]

Yes, it is frustrating to vote and feel like no matter what, the winner will not be your candidate and you shake your head and hope for a different outcome next time

That's what it's like in upstate NY. I used to live up there, have relatives up there and friends up there in various places. They are extremely frustrated that New York City and adjacent, (while extremely large in numbers, is very small geographically compared to the rest of the state,) decides what happens in the rest of the state. They have often said to me we don't represent them and how they live.

For instance, when the law was passed for same sex marriage in the NYS capitol, it passed by a very narrow margin. I forget the exact number, but it was like it only passed by 52% of the votes. That means 48% were against it (mostly representing upstate.) If one looks at the percentage, in this situation, we're not really a "blue" state. We passed a law here that geographically, doesn't represent people across the state. And as it was, barely passed.