Two-party system isn’t serving Montanans

It’s primary election season in Montana. Are you tired of divisive, negative and petty partisan politics yet? If you’re like me and many other independent-minded Montanans, you can’t wait until the election year is over, given our participation is unappreciated and under-represented.

I ran for office as an independent and third-party candidate four times. Why? Because I believe our two-party system isn’t serving Montanans. This sentiment resonates deeply with the largest contingent of Montana voters, with over 40% (and growing) considering themselves independent or politically unaffiliated. Yet the two-party system, each with a smaller number of members, has created and promotes a system that benefits only the political extremes. We’ve come to the place that George Washington warned us about in his oft-quoted farewell address, when he foresaw that political parties would eventually be used to subvert the power of the people, placing the government in the hands of those who would hold onto the power for themselves. In Washington’s view, the “worst enemy” of government would be loyalty to party over country.

When you get your primary ballot in the mail or go vote on June 4, you’ll have to make a choice. Under our current system, you must pick just one party’s ballot, selecting from Republican, Democrat and often one or more third parties. That inherently restricts your choice. You can’t vote pragmatically for the most qualified candidate for each office, picking a Republican for some offices and a Democrat, Libertarian, Green or independent for others. 

This year, Montana voters got as many as four ballots in the mail to choose from — even though some have very few races on them. Most of our candidates were chosen for us long ago by big money special interests who leave us with no meaningful choice now.

That might not be a problem for people on the far ends of the political spectrum, but I know first-hand that independent Montanans like me are locked out of our current electoral system. That’s not right. 

I don’t believe that’s the Montana way. Neither do the hundreds of thousands of Montanans who have already signed the petitions to place CI-126, the Open Primary Initiative, and the companion CI-127 Majority Winner initiative on the ballot in November. Open primaries give every Montanan, regardless of party affiliation, the freedom to vote for the candidate they believe best represents them. Requiring a majority winner ensures that every candidate is accountable to the greatest number of Montanans possible, rather than a narrow segment of special interests.

The growing polarization and partisan gridlock we see in Helena don’t reflect Montana’s values. Open primaries step outside these D.C. trends by reducing the influence of political parties and out-of-state dark money, and give Montana voters better choices in Montana’s elections.

We’re all tired of today’s politics, and the election year is just building up steam. Montanans deserve a system that encourages consensus-building, collaboration, and working across the aisle, not a system where party bosses pick candidates who waltz through an easy election, rewarding extremism and partisan gridlock.

Montanans have a choice: keep our election system the same, restricting our choices and leaving us without the representation we deserve, or open up our system for more competition and better choices. I hope this is the last primary election where this independent voter is forced to associate with an incomplete and ineffective partisan ideology when choosing a partisan ballot. I look forward to the day I get to vote for the candidates that I believe will best represent me and my family, regardless of the capital letter next to their names.

Doug Campbell is a former statewide third-party candidate from Bozeman.