Harry Petrucci, director of the local administration of Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office, visited Southwick yesterday to field questions about elections.
Town Clerk Michelle Hill organized the casual forum following an election season that saw the Democratic Party’s nominations left off the ballot.
The lack of Democrats was due to the party’s confusion over deadlines and requirements. When the party filed its papers late, the Republican Town Committee protested and the candidates were removed from the May 8 ballot.
Wanting to clear the air and avoid another debacle, Hill asked Petrucci to speak to the public about the process. He started by noting that Southwick’s partisan caucus tradition is not common in the Commonwealth today.
“There are only 30 or 40 communities that still have a caucus,” Petrucci said.
He said each party should adopt its own rules for the caucus while following state guidelines.
“You should adopt rules for the caucus to cover your parliamentary procedure,” said Petrucci.
Daniel Call, a Democrat and member of the Southwick Parks and Recreation Commission, asked why he received a full packet of caucus information in 2009, but not this year.
“There is no law that says the clerk, or anyone else, has to distribute information to the candidates,” said Petrucci. “The clerk is only obligated to send it to the party chairman. The town is not obligated to give any information to candidates about the caucus.”
Petrucci then praised Hill and her staff for providing as much information as they do.
“Our office goes way beyond,” said Hill. “We always try to go beyond and give you information. We will continue to give you the outline and paperwork, but the town clerk has nothing to do with the caucus.”
Hill said her affiliation with the parties begins when she receives the official nominations from each party caucus. Hill’s office does offer each party chairperson a list of dates and requirements, which she said they then could distribute to candidates. Hill added that the same information is available to anyone online through the Office of Campaign Finance.
Beth Malone served the Democratic Town Committee as chairwoman this year and said, as someone new to Southwick, she finds the partisan caucus process unnecessary.
“I don’t know what the benefit is,” she said. “I think it’s divisive.”
Petrucci said many people claim that partisan politics bring out more voters, but Malone said she disagreed and wondered how, if the town chose, could they dissolve the current caucus process.
“To get rid of it, you have to go to the town for a vote,” said Petrucci. “There would be a vote at Town Meeting to request the legislature remove the caucus.”
Petrucci added that most neighboring communities with non-partisan elections and without caucuses, often see election numbers in the five to eight percent voter range. Southwick’s 2012 election received a 44 percent voter turnout.
“I went back 10 years and 44 percent is something we have not seen once in 10 years,” said Hill, who added that the school project debt exclusion, as well as lack of Democrats on the ballot, contributed to the high numbers.
During the forum, it was discussed that candidates for elected office do not need to be nominated by the Republican or Democratic party to appear on the ballot.
Petrucci said anyone in any party, or unenrolled, can follow the nomination process on their own to be on the ballot. In addition, a person who is registered with a party can follow the steps to get on the ballot as an individual, as well as receive a party nomination. The only difference between appearing on the ballot independently is that there is no party affiliation noted on the ballot, only the candidates’ address.
The forum appeared to be well received by the 15 members of the audience, some of whom said the discussion would clear up some confusion going forward.
