Why indeed?

And why is "Torridjoe," city employee Mark Bunster, writing in comments on other people's blogs, or writing blog posts himself on his blog, when he should be working as an IT employee on the City's payroll?

Kari is self employed, and can waste time on his own dime. But Mark Bunster is wasting CoP and therefore taxpayer's money. His boss, the lax manager who manages IT people, should be called to task. Who is this lax manager?

"Why" are they so anxious? Because Smith's BusProject and BlueOregon don't believe in voter participation.....unless it's on their terms.

"Why are they so anxious to tell us we can't write in candidates"?

Interferes with being progressive. Progressive means you gotta keep recycling the same "progressive" faces/ideas. Original thinkers are not allowed.

Will they accept and recognize variations of Jack Bog, Bo Jack and the like?

You mean the same party who jammed the Nadar convention at Benson HS a few years back so not enough of his supporters could get in the room ?
THAT, party ?

No Abe.

If you are going to punish our blog host by
making him be mayor, you need to write in the full name. John Bogdanski.

I like Jack's presence here too much, so I'm writing in LaVonne Griffin-Valade.

Jack, in any of your information gathering on write-ins, do you know what would be acceptable to Brown and Co. and Mult. Co. in what spellings, etc. would be counted in regards to LaVonne Griffin-Valade? Would just "LaVonne" or "LaVonne Valade be accepted?

If you're going to write in a name in this election, you needn't worry about spelling and other formalities. Your vote will be wasted without regard to all that.

Harry,
A few years ago I complained to the fire chief (Mark Bunster was assigned to PFB at the time) about his extracurriculars on the taxpayers dime. It got me nowhere. As long as they spin the party line, city employees can politic on our dime all they want it seems.

Why are they so anxious to tell us we can't write in candidates?

Maybe the logic goes like this: the supposed official race being between Smith and Hales, any written-in vote is a "wasted vote," wasted in the sense that it won't get spent on one of the two candidates who is actually going to win. And, maybe internal polling data --or just plain conjecture-- tells them that of voters out there who would write in a name, most would choose Smith over Hales if they were forced to choose between just them and only them. So they want to capture some of that.

Alan: If you're going to write in a name in this election, you needn't worry about spelling and other formalities. Your vote will be wasted without regard to all that.
Mike: Your vote is only wasted when you do NOT vote. Voting for the best candidate should be your philosophy, without regard as to who "might" win. Your philosophy confirms people continue to vote for the lesser of two evils and wondering why we have corrupt idiots governing us.

Or perhaps Alan's only goal is to vote for whomever he considers most likely to win. That way, he can consider himself a "winner" regardless of the outcome of an election.

Neither Mike nor Larry seems realistic. Realistic looks like this: one of the two candidates on the ballot is going to be the next mayor of Portland. That is a very unattractive prospect, but it is the fact of the matter. Not voting, or writing in another person's name, isn't going to change that, and is really only designed to give the voter the comfort of detachment from the outcome. I think the outcome of the election is not a foregone conclusion (that is, either one of the two real candidates could win), and I'm undecided as to which one is more odious than the other. But to me the only constructive way to participate in an election like this is to decide which of the two seems less bad, and vote for him. Anything else -- write-ins or abstentions, or even voting for one because you think he is more likely to lose -- is a cop-out that makes the process more about you than about the next mayor. The time to identify other, better candidates was in the primary election.

The time to identify other, better candidates was in the primary election.

How few people participated in the primary and how many more will vote this November?

More negatives have come out on both Hales and Smith since that primary,
so now what? Too bad we have to vote for one of them anyway?
They get a pass because they got through the primary, so give it up and vote for
them no matter what else we might find out about them before the election?
By the way, other better candidates in the primary were primarily ignored.
It is part of the way the elections are in a choke hold style here in the City That Works!

I might add some of us have had enough of the choke hold game and are willing to open our minds to step out of the box and do a write-in. Really, what is there to lose?
Sounds like there are some Charlie and Jefferson folks who have more to lose than we and want to keep us corralled in the old mind set.

Given the field of canidates for mayor a vote for either of the two is wasted.

If Jack would have 50,000 Lavonne Griffin-Valade address labels printed and distributed via the regulars here, timed to hit the streets when the ballots do, she could be elected. Peel label, apply to ballot. Presto.

I wonder who Creepy sold the ballot openings to ?
And do they burn or shred them ?
I will bet all the over seas military votes end up in the sea come November .

This is a general election, not a "runoff," so write-ins are definitely allowed. But that doesn't mean they're smart. The sorry, sorry truth of the matter is if you don't vote for Smith, you'll get Hales. I agree they both are awful candidates, and I grieve the current state of Portland politics, but Smith will be totally ineffective once in office. He has few powerful connections and no political skill. The council will marginalize him from day one and then proceed to fight among themselves. At least we can hope for a four-year gridlock. Hales, on the other hand, will be the alpha dog in the room. He has to be stopped at the polls or he won't be stopped at all. Think long and hard before you throw away your vote on a Nader type who you already know isn't going to win.

At least we can hope for a four-year gridlock.

That's what we said about Adams. Turned out, a lot of harm was done.

Think long and hard before you throw away your vote on a Nader type who you already know isn't going to win.

But they're both terrible, truly terrible. I hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils all the time. Barack Obama. Amanda Fritz. But on Smith and Hales, they are both disasters, equally bad in different ways. Sometimes you have to give the system the finger. (Sounds sort of like a motto for this blog.)

The council will marginalize him from day one and then proceed to fight among themselves.

Novick is in, if Nolan gets in, Fish is a go along, there are the three votes for continued and more likely worse council.
Alpha dog fits right in to do roughshod over the citizens when called for.
Smith runs with an insider crowd too.
You may have a point, but I don't see much of a fight among these people,
they all pretty much choices to continue the agenda.
The future of Portland??