Soviet Election
People in the United States can draw inspiration from the recent Soviet elections. Suppose in the voting booth we could express our dissatisfaction with a slate of candidates by casting a negative vote for all of them. I bet there would be greatly revitalized interest in voting among the vast numbers of people in our electorate who don’t vote out of a conviction that the Democratic and Republican candidates they must choose between are as alike as two competing brands of toilet paper.
The disaffected in our electorate, like the citizens of the Soviet Union, would overwhelm the polls to cast decisive votes against entire slates of candidates. And if no one could gain a majority mandate to govern, the election results would show very powerfully that the United States also needs its own vigorous program of glasnost and perestroika .
HARLEIGH KYSON JR.
Los Angeles
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