DAN MURTAUGH
Staff Reporter of some Mobile rag writes:

Under the new system, voters use pens to fill out paper ballots. To write in a candidate, all they have to do is fill in the "write-in" bubble and scribble whatever name comes to mind.

Allow me to weep bitter tears...

The (17,733) write-ins wreaked havoc on election night efficiency and delayed returns for hours, as poll workers have to copy every real name submitted onto a separate piece of paper, according to Roxann Dyess, election coordinator for the Mobile County Probate Court.

"That can be very tedious," she said.

I mourn...I bleed...

It sounds to me that the system is working, and that the Peee-pul, however ineffectually, Have Spoken. If the two-headed snake that serves as Party Politics in Alabamastan were effectual, there would be no need for write-ins, but the Peee-pul have figgered out that it's really one critter masquerading as two, and shutting out other parties from the game.

Loretta Nall opines in her platform:

Proposal: Ditch all the anti-competitive ballot access laws so the Republicans and
Democrats have to run with the Black Panther, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, Reform, Constitution and other parties. Then at least elections will convey some information about the electorate.

Not a bad idea. Would there be crackpot parties? Certainly, always have, always will. It would be refreshing and fair to let everyone on the playground, not just the two bullies.