A Government For The People Must Be Chosen By The People!

By Betty Jean Grant

Betty Jean Grant

On the eve, or in this case, the aftermath of the Buffalo 2025 political election season, one can see what can potentially happen when we fail to get or stay engaged in the process of choosing who will represent our concerns and interests in government. One media out let, in particular, the Investigative Post, has written numerous articles, since the June Primary, about the lack of competitive races leading up to the November General Election.

There was more effort made by the Erie County Democratic Committee to suppress potential candidates by discouraging them to run or denying equal levels of support or assistance to all democratic candidates aspiring to “make the ballot,” than there were to assist or support them! This writer is not saying that what was happening to potential candidates was illegal; however, it was not the all-seeing and all con trolling selection committee inviting all of its political children to a space and a place, under the big tent.

There were so few competitive races in the June Democratic Primary, which led many Democratic candidates, including this writer, to create and run on Independent Lines, such as the Restore Buffalo Line. An Independent Line is sim ply a political platform or line that any voter, whether their political affiliation is Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Working Families or even not registered with a particular political party, can sign the petition of a candidate running for office.

I am a lifelong Democrat but the Independent Line allowed me to collect and file over 2400 signa tures of voters of all political “hats” to qualify me for the ballot for the Erie County, 2nd District legislative seat. And this is how it is, and should be, in a true democracy. All voters should be able to choose who will represent them in office. That is why maybe we should look at the concepts of Rank Choice Voting and Free and Fair Elections a little bit more, down the road.

Also, I want to sound the alarm to the East side’s, Black community. We dear people, are in a position, I believe, to becoming politically irrelevant in a section of the city and within a party that has long taken us for granted. Just as our enslaved ancestors were prized for their strength and stamina, today’s dece dents are courted and convinced to join a political party that promptly forget them five minutes after their votes have been counted and tal lied. And the saddest thing of all is it does not matter which political party is doing the courting and soliciting.

After the Tuesday, Nov 4th, election, we will know if new ways of voting by creating independent parties or partisan lines are some thing the masses will support. With almost 50%, nationally, of new voters choosing to be registered as Independent voters, those who are leading both, the Democratic and Republican parties, may be having a “Houston, we got a problem” moment, sooner than later.