COLUMN: South Dakota must allow write-ins

Hello valued member of this free democratic society. By the time you read this, the election will be over, and thankfully so. I’m tired of all the hoopla. I know some of you feel passionately about the election. I know that some of you feel very strongly for one reason or another that one candidate or the other is going to destroy the country, and thus you absolutely must vote for whoever it was you voted for. I hope your Coke or Pepsi is delicious.

That being said, I’m tired of the hoopla about our election period for one very simple reason. I’m a South Dakotan. Some of you may not be, and I apologize if this piece bores you from this point. Maybe I’ll write something with broader appeal in the weeks to come. But for now, I’m annoyed with the election process for two reasons.

First, South Dakota is not a swing state. This is no big deal really. All my life has been a red state. So, if I’m to vote for a Republican, it’ll be a drop in the bucket. If I vote for the Democratic candidate, it won’t make a difference at all. I’ve always just accepted this in previous elections. But this election was different for me, because I started reading up on third party candidates.

I should note that I’m not writing this to endorse a presidential candidate. I’m fairly certain this paper has rules against that, and as I’ve mentioned, the election will be over by the time you read this anyway.

Here’s my beef. If you are not allowed to write in a third-party candidate, you are actually being denied your right, as a citizen of a democracy, to vote for who you think will do the best job in our highest office. I know you might honestly think that President Barack Obama or Gov. Mitt Romney (alphabetically, not preferentially) is the best candidate. That’s fine. But if you’ve been denied options in making your decision, can it really be said that you’ve been allowed to exercise your democratic right to your fullest ability? Honestly, don’t you feel a little better with Coke or Pepsi, knowing that you’ve passed by the RC Cola on the shelves?