Dear Friend,

Have you ever decided not to vote in a primary election because you didn’t want to publicly declare your political party? Do you think there might be good reasons for someone not wanting their neighbors and the whole world to know whether they voted in the Democratic or Republican primary? You are not alone. Most Macon County voters don’t vote in primaries.

With another primary election in a few months, one in which we will pick our candidates for a whole slew of offices, from President to State Representative to State's Attorney and County Board, it is time to take stock of the restrictive system by which we nominate the candidates from whom we will elect our office holders.

I am convinced it is time to open up our political system by switching to an open primary where voters would cast a secret ballot and not have to publicly declare their political party to vote in the primary, as they do now.  With all the entrenched politicians in the the State legislature, the only way to get the legislature to change to an open primary is to show them an overwhelming display of public support for it by putting this issue on the ballot. Please join my petition drive to do that by downloading a petition now.

Thanks for all of your help!

Sam Cahnman