Commentary: Letters to the Editor: March 7, 2005 Dear Editor, Our state constitution guarantees fair elections. Denying the citizens the opportunity to vote for the candidate they choose is not fair. We have the chance to have fair elections in Oklahoma due to the introduction of HB 1429. The bill, introduced by Marion Cooksey will change the restrictions on how political parties are recognized. It takes as much as $100,000 to get on the ballot in Oklahoma for parties other than the Democrats and Republicans. HB 1429 is in the Rules Committee at the state House of Representatives. The chair of the committee has told Cooksey that the bill will not get a hearing, which means it will not get debated on the House floor since it will not get out of committee. I want to know why our representatives put such harsh restriction on political freedom. Oklahomans that wanted to vote for a Libertarian or a Green could not in 2004. Some refused to vote for president in 2004. I left the partisan areas of my ballot blank. There were almost 10,000 under votes in 2004 due to lack of third party options, which was a result of Oklahoma having the harshest ballot access restrictions in the nation. We need fair elections just like the state constitution guarantees. - Jimmy Cook, vice-chairman of the Oklahoma Libertarian Party, Claremore Why was Oklahoma ballot access made so restrictive? In 1968 the American Independent candidate received 20.3% of the Oklahoma vote. Concerned state politicians voted to restrict third party access in 1974 (with SB 415 by Smith and Elder), perhaps fearing the results of weak Democratic support in 1976 (George McGovern, ended up with only 24% of the Oklahoma vote). See the 1976 court case when American Party presidential candidate, Thomas Anderson, challenged Oklahoma's laws tailored to keep Oklahomans from exercising voter choice.