No Political Parties

We just had a municipal election. For that election, we had to select a mayor, a city councilor, and school trustees. No political affiliation was permitted; All candidates had to run as independents. That style of election may seem peculiar, but that was the way it was.

The consequences of that rule were interesting and illuminating. All candidates had to state their policies and their focus, in terms that were easily understood by voters. The candidates were not restricted by the ideology of their political party.

Voters undoubtedly found it more difficult to select a candidate. Any attempt to determine the candidate’s ideology from what they stated led only to doubts. Instead, the voters had to rely on the candidate’s experience and their likely loyalty. Voters may have omitted some contests, because the names of the candidates meant nothing to them. I recall seeing those names in exactly that way, in an earlier election. A little research solved that problem.

On balance, this is a good system. It does place more responsibility on the voters, but this is also a good thing.