Trego's Mountain Ear

I’m looking at the Presidential Primary results from Nevada with envy:

Here in Montana, we don’t have “None of These Candidates” as a ballot option – if our ballot offers only one candidate, we can’t even have a write-in vote counted against him (or her).   Both our local state senator and district representative voted to get rid of the legislation that authorized those write-in votes last year. 

In a way, I can understand it – it would be humbling to say “I lost the election to “None of These Candidates.”  On the other hand – as a voter, not as a politician – I strongly dislike elections without choices.   In our last election, just in the State House of Representatives, these politicians ran unopposed:

• District 1         Steve Gunderson (R)             
• District 2         Neil Durham (R)
• District 6         Amy Regier (R)                                 
• District 8         Terry Falk (R)
• District 9         Tony Brockman (R)               
• District 11       Tanner Smith (R)
• District 14       Denley Loge (R)                                
• District 16       Tyson Running Wolf (D)
• District 18       Llew Jones (R)                                   
• District 19       Russel Miner (R)
• District 27       Josh Kassmier (R)                  
• District 29       Douglas Flament (R)
• District 32       Jonathan Windy Boy (D)
• District 34       Rhonda Knudsen (R)
• District 35       Brandon Ler (R)                    
• District 36       Bob Phalen (R)
• District 37       Jerry Schillinger (R)               
• District 39       Gary Parry (R)
• District 40       Greg Oblander (R)                 
• District 43       Kerri Seekins-Crowe (R)
• District 45       Katie Zolnikov (R)                 
• District 53       Nelly Nicol (R)
• District 54       Terry Moore (R)                                 
• District 55       Lee Deming (R)
• District 56       Sue Vinton (R)                                   
• District 66       Eric Matthews (D)
• District 71       Ken Walsh (R)                                   
• District 75       Marta Bertoglio (R)
• District 78       Gregory Frazer (R)                             
• District 80       Becky Beard(R)
• District 81       Ron Marshall (R)                               

Thirty-one of Montana’s 100 state representatives have no opponent in the general election.  Since legislative districts are apportioned according to population, this essentially translates to 31% of Montanans who had no choice to vote on their state representative last November. 

It’s past time to put “None of These Candidates” on the ballot.  If it can be done for a Nevada primary, we can afford the extra ink for Montana general elections.