The importance of legislative elections
By Larry . . . Many of us facing draconian laws frequently bemoan the harshness of the punishment and registration requirements that flow from being convicted of a sexual offense. While the laws can be too harsh and disproportionate considering the underlying conduct, the laws originate from “we the people” and how we the people choose to cast our votes. In addition, those we elect tend to vote consistently with the views of their constituents.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 44 states will be holding legislative elections this year. This means that the voters will be choosing their senators and representatives for a total of 4,712 legislative seats. (NCSL Legislative Races) Since the United States is actually 50 separate sovereign jurisdictions, each state decides what the appropriate amount of punishment should be as well as their registration requirements.
This means everyone should listen very carefully to those on the campaign trail who wish to represent you in your state capitol. When candidates campaign on a law-and-order platform and promise that they will be tough on crime, it should not surprise us when they vote to make penalties more extreme. Examples would be surgical castration and imposition of the death penalty for those who commit certain sexual offenses. A few states have already enacted such harsh laws, and more are likely to do so in 2025 unless we choose not to elect them.
Some key points to understand when you cast your votes in November are that those who espouse extreme views on the campaign trail are exceedingly difficult to compromise with once they have won their election. Our two-party system needs balance rather than lopsided control by a single party. The party that holds the majority in each legislative chamber is the party that largely controls the legislative process. The majority party names the committee chairs and controls the legislative calendar. In addition, committee membership is awarded based on the makeup of the overall membership of the body.
As a hypothetical example, a state that has a senate with 50 total members would be organized under the control of whichever party has 26 or more members in that chamber. The next important factor is the ratio of members in each party. If one party controls 40 of those 50 senate seats, that party will have the same ratio on the legislative committees as well. For example, in the hypothetical example, 80% of the committee seats would be awarded to the majority party. A committee of ten would be comprised of eight members of the majority party and two members of the minority party. Committees are of major importance because that is where the public is permitted to have the most input. Most states accept public comment at committee hearings.
Legislatures that are extremely lopsided are very difficult to work with because super majorities feel no need to compromise with the minority because they don’t really need to. Keep this in mind when you vote in the upcoming election in your state.
