Tim Aalders calls Utah Debate Commission a sham
Says process designed to keep two major parties in power
By Howie Morgan
Conservative Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Aalders, a candidate under the Constitution Party banner, revealed that despite national polling showing 61 percent of voters want a third choice on their election ballots the Utah Debate Commission uses polling to keep third-party candidates out of any statewide debate.
“The Utah Debate Commission, under the leadership of Democrat and Republican co-chairs, intentionally have created a process to ensure the continued dominance of the two major parties and exclude candidates representing alternative points of view,” Aalders said. “ You cannot take a poll about who is winning the beauty contest before voters have even had a chance to learn there are more than two contestants and then tell voters that only two contestants are worth looking at in their sham pageant.”
“Over a quarter of a million voters in Utah voted against the two major parties in the last election for president, yet the Utah Commission poll asks ‘If the election were held today for U.S. Senate, which of the following candidates would you vote for?’ long before the Federal Election Commission and Federal Communication Commission rules allow candidates to have their best opportunity to reach voters,” he said. “How can Utah take the pulse of voters when they haven’t yet had the ability to even recognize that other candidates are alive?”
“Elections should be a battle of ideas, but the Utah Debate Commission has rules that violate the very spirit of what is written on their website: ‘The considerations about debate scheduling and participation are made by the candidates in light of current electoral considerations rather than the consistent need for voters to gain valuable information about candidates,’” he said. “The debates do not give voters the opportunity to hear ideas that often later become part of our national debate such as immigration reform, an end to slavery, or women’s suffrage.”
“The commission is not even following their own rules, so why they should follow common sense rules is not surprising to anyone,” he said. “Their own website says they will ‘schedule two to three statewide debates’ for U.S. senator.”
Tim Aalders is a small business owner and longtime Utah based nationally syndicated talk radio host running to become Utah’s next U.S. senator, replacing Orrin Hatch. The general election is Nov. 6. For more information, see timaalders.com.
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