{news} Duffee calls for instant runoff voting

[David Bedell]

See party enrollment statistics and Richard Duffee's comments at the end of
this article about the 4th District Libertarian candidate.

http://www.connpost.com/ci_10630982

Candidate's residency not a problem

By KEN DIXON
Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 10/03/2008 09:50:33 PM EDT

HARTFORD -- The Libertarian Party's candidate for the 4th Congressional
District doesn't live in southwestern Connecticut, but he has the power of
the United States Constitution behind his bid to unseat U.S. Rep.
Christopher Shays.

While he's a long shot underdog, along with Green Party candidate Richard Z.
Duffee, of Stamford, Libertarian Michael Anthony Carrano, of North Haven,
could attract just enough votes to determine who wins the Nov. 4 balloting.

Neither Carrano nor Duffee can match the funding and mainstream-political
recognition of incumbent Shays, of Bridgeport, or Democratic challenger Jim
Himes, of Greenwich.

But Gary L. Rose, chairman of the Department of Government and Politics at
Sacred Heart University said in a close Shays/Himes race, both Carrano and
Duffee could make a difference, even if their candidacies are marginal at
best.

"I would say the Libertarian candidate doesn't have a chance at all, but
given the dynamics of the 4th District, a third-party candidate could be a
spoiler," Rose said.

Carrano could not be reached for comment Friday.

His eligibility was confirmed Friday by attorneys in the office of Secretary
of the State Susan Bysiewicz, who cited Article I, section 2 of the U.S.
Constitution that merely requires House candidates to be 25 years old, a
citizen of the United States for seven years and an "inhabitant" of the
state.

Richard Lion, chairman of the Libertarian Party's State Central Committee,
agreed that Carrano, who was selected by a party committee, doesn't have
much of a chance on Election Day.

"I think any Libertarian tends to be a longshot," Lion said Friday, adding
that "I guess it would be up to him" as to whether Carrano ever actually
moves into the district.

Rose said that even though the Constitution only requires congressional
candidates reside in the state, voters expect their federal representatives
to live in their districts.

"The perception is, even though it's not a requirement, the American people,
they expect people to be a resident as well," Rose said in a Friday phone
interview. "The two go hand in hand. It's unusual that someone would try to
do this."

Voters need to know that a representative in Congress faces some of the same
daily issues that they do, he said.

"While I guess you could say legally he's OK, I've yet to know of a
congressional candidate who doesn't live in the district," Rose said. "It's
almost a presumption to claim he understands the needs of the 4th District.
Maybe it's not legally wrong, but politically it doesn't seem to make a lot
of sense and it's almost disrespectful."

Last year, former New York Rangers goaltender, Mike Richter, of Guilford, in
the 3rd Congressional District, explored, then dropped the possibility of
seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Shays.

Statewide, there are about 2,151 Green Party members and about 1,147 members
of the Libertarian Party, according to the secretary of the state.

In the 2006 election, Shays won with 106,510 votes compared to 99,450 for
Democrat Diane Farrell. Libertarian Philip Z. Maymin received 3,058 votes.
Shays won by 5,747 votes.

Duffee, in a phone interview Friday, said the state's voting system is
rigged to keep Democrats and Republicans in power.

"The thing that the Democrats and Republicans always want you to forget
about is the spoiler issue is their choice," said Duffee, stressing that the
state should adopt the so-called instant runoff form of voting that was
adopted this year in Vermont to give third-party and petitioning candidates
a better chance.

"If you get rid of the spoiler issue, then nobody has to worry about it and
then third parties will grow," said Duffee, a lawyer. "The primary reason
third parties aren't growing, is people think they've wasted their vote."