Historically, independent voters, and voters for minor third parties, do not get a large percentage of votes. Often, they’re considered “spoiler” candidates, who lose the election for someone by dra4wing critical support away during a close race. Or their thought of as simply “protest candidates” with no chance of winning.
In Montana, for the presidential race and senate race, there were very small percentages (0-2%) for third party candidates. But further down on the ticket, libertarians often carried 3-4% of the vote.
And there were some interesting exceptions. In the race for public service commissioner of district four, the contest was between a republican and an independent. The independent carried 45% of the vote.
This year, in the races for state senate, there were more contested elections than not. In the one race that had three parties (District 45- Mineral County), the independent carried 8%.
State representative races were less consistently contested. Thirteen were uncontested, all republican. There were two instances of three party races, and one contest between a libertarian and a major party. In Yellowstone County, the Libertarian running against a republican carried 42% of the vote.
As for Lincoln county, we had a higher percentage of votes for libertarian candidates at the state level, and a 28% vote for the independent public service commissioner of district four (significantly less than the 45% she carried across the district, but higher than the percentage usually won in our county by democrats in equivalent races).
Interestingly, in the race for county commissioner, the democrat candidate took 14% of the vote, while the libertarian carried 20%. Noel Duram, republican, carried only 66% of the vote. A majority, but a substantially smaller one than republicans have typically enjoyed.
This year, only three of our county positions were uncontested: Clerk of District Court, Clerk and Recorder, County Superintendent of Schools. Unfortunately, this is still a tremendous percentage considering how few county positions were up for election. These were the only partisan county elections, other than the race for county commissioner and state representatives.
Editor’s Note: Sometimes it is necessary to state, research, and publish the obvious. In this case, the obvious is that having a cannabis dispensary near a school is not a great thing. Unless there are more of them than google wants to admit to, the nearest one to Eureka Elementary is about half a mile.
I’ll suggest anyone still feeling 100% comfortable with marijuana consider reading about marijuana induced psychosis and the differences between marijuana now and what it used to be.
As more states legalize marijuana, researchers are examining the effects of legalization on society. Angus Kittelman, an assistant professor of special education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Gulcan Cil, a senior statistician at Oregon Health & Science University, decided to look at the effects of cannabis dispensaries being located near schools. They discuss their research in the following Q&A with education editor Jamaal Abdul-Alim.
Is it bad when a school is located near a dispensary?
Yes, it’s not good for a couple of reasons. When cannabis dispensaries are near middle schools, students are more likely to receive office discipline referrals for substance use. When students get sent to the office, they lose valuable instructional time in the classroom.
Adolescent cannabis use is also associated with many negative health effects, such as poorer cognitive functioning and increased risks for developing mental health or substance use disorders. Students who use cannabis are also less likely to complete high school or go to college.
With the legalization of recreational cannabis sales in many U.S. states, there are more cannabis outlets and greater access, which can be concerning for families and schools. In our recent study, for example, we found that the number of office discipline referrals for substance use increased in middle schools after legalization of recreational cannabis in the state of Oregon in 2015. But this increase was only when there were recreational outlets within a 1-mile radius of the schools.
Middle school students receiving an office discipline referral for substance use is relatively rare. An average middle school had three to four referrals of substance use per year. But those near an outlet experienced a 44% increase after legalization and had one to two additional referrals on average each year.
What’s causing the increase in referrals?
Great question. We analyzed student substance referrals after excluding referrals for tobacco and alcohol. We observed increases in substance referrals in Oregon schools after the statewide legalization of cannabis in 2015, compared with the trends in similar states with no legal cannabis at the time. We then examined whether having a cannabis dispensary within a 1-mile radius was associated with an increase in referrals.
We cannot say with certainty that the increase in all substance use referrals were from cannabis use. However, we know that cannabis is among the most common substances adolescents reported using. In a nationwide survey, for example, 8.3% of eighth graders reported using cannabis. That’s compared with 12% for vaping nicotine/tobacco and 15.2% for alcohol.
Besides potentially providing easier access to the product, when there are more legal cannabis stores in certain neighborhoods – and increases in signs and flyers advertising for it – it may make kids ignore or downplay the health risks. Increases in exposure to cannabis marketing is associated with adolescents being more likely to use cannabis.
Students often travel a mile or two to get to school. And those in middle schools are more likely to walk to school compared with students in elementary or high school. Therefore, even though adolescents are too young to legally buy cannabis themselves, having a cannabis outlet nearby makes it easier for them to obtain it from a friend or purchase it from a stranger.
What can be done?
Isn’t a 1-mile radius a rather large area?
We recommend that school staff look for patterns in student discipline referrals for substance use. If the substance use is occurring in certain school locations, such as playgrounds, hallways or bathrooms, staff can then supervise these areas better.
Schools may consider implementing proactive and preventive strategies to support students engaging in substance use. These can include having school counselors provide drug resistance skills training programs or programs that teach students how to manage emotions and to resist stressful situations.
Not many years ago, if you were faced with a cluster of unacceptable clowns on your ballot, you could write a name in and cast a protest vote. Hell, I guess you still can – the thing is, your write-in protest vote won’t be counted or reported. With the elimination of subsection 7 last year, the last remaining method of voting against an unopposed, unacceptable candidate was taken away.
Time was when we laughed about unopposed Soviet candidates being elected with no votes for the opponent. We’re at that same stage now. When the next primary comes out, we’ll be faced with a bunch of zero choice positions.
P.J. O’Rourke wrote “Don’t Vote – It Only Encourages the Bastards.” He may have been Prescient. Our current system mandates that, in order to run for office, you must pay filing fees based on this schedule:
For offices earning an annual salary of $2,500 or less and members of the state legislature
$15
For offices (except county-level) earning an annual salary of more than $2,500
1% of salary
For offices in which compensation is paid in fees
$10
By keeping the filing fee at $15 for state legislature, they – it’s more polite than O’Rourke’s tag (The Bastards) state representatives and senators don’t have to face the fact that our filing fees keep a lot of people out of the running.
Montana County Elected Official Salary Survey shows the salaries of elected officials in most Montana counties. It’s a year old, but I don’t have any better source to cover the state. In Lincoln County, you can get the current salaries here.
Probably the most interest is for the County Commissioner at $64,232.94 – so the 1% filing fee is a bit higher than $642. It’s the same for sheriff – and the rest of the full-time elected positions are $62,232.94. (This is the base salary, commissioners and sheriff get $2,000 more.
We could go on to elected state positions – but that’s for a future issue.
It’s expensive just to file for these positions. Write-in votes are no longer counted . . . so it is no longer possible to vote against a single candidate that you find unacceptable. If you vote for him or her, it only encourages the bastards. Worse, it discourages the folks who might run against them.
Since the bastards have made it impossible to vote against an unopposed and unacceptable candidate, they have made voting less effective. Our elections are essentially the same as the Soviet system we once mocked. Still, the bastards have left us an alternative, and it’s a simple exercise in Irish democracy:
If a candidate is unopposed, don’t mark that part of the ballot. The unopposed candidate is going to win the election – so make him or her or it win with the smallest number of votes possible. It won’t be possible to make the courthouse clique candidates win with single digit numbers – I’ll get into the socially constructed reality of the courthouse and the annex later – but it would be a beautiful protest if the county treasurer or clerk won re-election with less than half of the ballots cast. That would encourage the opposition.
P.J. O’Rourke was right. They have screwed with the elections so much that voting can only Encourage the Bastards. He didn’t take it far enough – if enough of us leave the boxes next to the unopposed candidates unfilled, it will encourage opponents. The first step in getting the vote back is remembering P.J. – Don’t Vote – It Only Encourages the Bastards. But don’t forget to cast your ballot!
Now it takes a single click to get the data. So what does it mean? I measured the record lows back in 1977 – this chart, from the Grave Creek site, shows how the critical snowfall that brings us up to normal or above occurs between the February measurements and April 1. I don’t know if my record measurements will stand or not – but being the guy who measured something for the records doesn’t count for much.
The USDA has updated plant hardiness zones, and despite last winter’s impressive cold, we’ve jumped up a zone (to 5a from 4b in 2012; the average low went up by 6 degrees)
Hardiness zones are a (partial) climate description that’s been in existence for a bit over a century, though the government didn’t get involved in it until the ’60s (At which point they proceeded to do so badly for a few decades). They use the average minimum winter temperature to determine the zone.
The current map can be found at usda.gov/ and is searchable by zip code. Here’s the current map for Montana:
When government officials – in this case Texas Governor Abbott – begin calling for society’s passive resistance (heck, active resistance) to the conduct of the federal government and the President, things have gone past Irish Democracy.
Irish Democracy – a situation where, with no coordination or discussion, the people ignore laws with which they disagree – has already led to legalization of marijuana. But once politicians organized to pass laws decriminalizing weed, it had gone past Irish Democracy. When federal pressure led Montana’s legislature to agree to a 55 mph speed limit with a five dollar fine the legislature was counting on Irish Democracy – and today our speed limits are higher than the double nickel.
Is it Irish Democracy to do a job that the federal government is neglecting? I’m a Montanan. Historically, our legal system started at a funeral in 1863 – and before they finished shoveling the dirt back into the grave, people attending William Bell’s funeral began organizing the Montana Vigilantes. The Vigilantes formed just before Christmas, and by January 10, 1864, hanged the sheriff (and several of his associates). The Vigilantes disbanded when formal law came to the goldfields. In that case, government (i.e. Sheriff Henry Plummer) was the problem, and volunteers were the solution. Still, it ceased to be Irish Democracy at the moment organization began – probably in a conversation between Confederate Paris Pfouts and Union Nathaniel Langford. They found that they had more in common than the differences created by the war between the states . . . they moved from recognizing themselves as Illinoising or Texans to a higher level based on commonalities.
Similarly, Ireland now has the Óglaigh na hÉireann – the country’s national defense force. The group began as Irish Volunteers in 1913, and are remembered for their service in the Post Office in 1916. Organized, the Irish Volunteers took care not to include John McBride, since he was under near constant surveillance from the British Army – his involvement was indeed spontaneous rather than planned. Around 1919, the Irish Volunteers took the name Irish Republican Army.
Back to Texas – the argument is, at its simplest, barbed wire. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Government has the authority and power to cut the barbed wire that the great state of Texas has put along in the southern boundary. Texas continues to put in more barbed wire. As an aggie, this seems like taking the old open range v barbed wire disagreement from personal to government . . . making it a states rights v federal authority. Definitely not Irish Democracy.
Trego's Mountain Ear 