Our Forefathers and Foremothers of so long ago had good minds. They gave us a gift that keeps on giving, this concept of Democracy, guided by a Constitution.
.
So many times in "modern history" we've seen the value of Courts. They keep our Congress from discriminating against minorities and women, they stop our President from making secret those things that should be public, and they keep our Legislature from ignoring education forever.
.
On yet another issue during the past month or two we've seen the Courts say that we can't create unfair ballots. No matter how much some of us might want to have an advantage by having our names or political party in the "favored spot" on the ballot, we just can't do it. No.
.
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner did what he needed to do on this entire issue, and ended up being a good "mediator" - - waiting until the Court made a firm decision and offered clearer guidance, listening to but not leading nor challenging what the Legislature considered, and then agreeing to a ballot design that brings greater fairness to the situation for this November.

more below the fold
-------------------

Because of the approach he took toward solving this matter, Bill Gardner is now in a good position to evaluate what happens this November on the ballot, and then recommend permanent changes in state laws for the 2007 Session. He's done all this in a non-partisan way, with a high degree of skill and diplomacy, and that's what we should all expect of his office.
.
Now he can bring us together on this and other long-standing issues of ballot fairness, including those "straight ticket" circles, and voter machine count irregularities. Not because perhaps all of us want to, but because we have to. What's fair is fair.
.
All this shouldn't have been a Republican vs. Democratic Party issue, but it became such because Republicans tried to preserve their advantage. Democrats in the House and Senate did well at the so-called Special Session, standing behind the Secretary of State and supporting his right to respond to the Courts without Legislative action.
,
Governor John Lynch and Kathy Sullivan, among others, deserve a lot of credit - - but a special loud applause should go to Paul Twomey and all his petitioners for bringing this issue of ballot fairness forward after many years of inaction and stonewalling by Republicans in the House and Senate. They really rocked the system.
.
On to January, when an even better way of preparing ballots, by rotating all the candidates so everyone has the chance to go first, can be approved. It's not a new idea, but this time Republicans might join Democrats and agree that we might as well be fair with one another because the Courts won't let us continue to play in the sandbox without sharing.
.
There's a happy alphabet in our future.