To the Representatives to the Assembly and Senators of Wisconsin, in the State Legislature.

Last November, as happens every two years, ninety-nine Representatives to the Assembly were elected. Forty-seven of them were the only name on the ballot in the general election. Many of those had also been unopposed for their party’s nomination in the primary.

We, the undersigned, find this situation unacceptable and request you take immediate legislative action to reduce the number of partisan offices elected with only a single name on the ballot.

Wisconsin makes it harder than almost any other state for an average citizen to run for office and have a spot on the ballot. Each and every candidate is required to collect hundreds of signatures, which may seem a small burden to established incumbents with ample fundraising and a network of supporters, but is a significant discouraging factor to an average working adult wishing to participate in the civic discourse of the electoral process.

Many candidates, who do manage to collect enough signatures, then find themselves removed from the ballot based on technicalities and complaints filed by their opponents. For the people at large, “petition fatigue” is an increasingly common complaint, making it that much harder for candidates to secure the required number of signatures.

Last year saw a record low number of candidates file for partisan offices elected at the Fall elections. The vast majority of these elections had either one or two candidates, a small handful had three, and none but the statewide offices had more than three. The alleged problem of an over-crowded ballot, which is the justification for the petition requirement, has given way to a clearly under-crowded ballot.

The Competitive Elections Act would remedy this defect, by lowering the nomination petition thresholds for partisan office by half across the board, in particular down to 100 valid signatures for State Representative, 200 for State Senator, 500 for Representative in Congress, and 1000 for statewide offices.

This is a modest but substantive reform, which could be easily implemented and would not make any other change to the structure or process of elections in Wisconsin. It would place Wisconsin more in line with other states, and ensure that anybody with a true modicum of support and a willingness to engage the voters is able to fairly and honestly contest their election.

A state legislative body where almost half of members were elected by default is a sham, which calls into question the democratic legitimacy of the entire body. Even voters in “safe seats” deserve to have a debate, a choice, and to hear their incumbent defend their record, if not in the general election than at least in the primary. And neither of Wisconsin’s major political parties should be allowed to ignore and write-off half of the state as being unworthy of even putting up a candidate, so they can focus more resources and effort on a scarce few swing districts.

Therefore, we are asking every state legislator who was elected by default with no ballot-listed opponent in 2014, as well as their colleagues who had to compete for their seats, to agree to introduce and vote for the Competitive Elections Act, the draft of which has been submitted to your office.