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Page 1 o f 2 Curti, ti, Carolyn From: Schroeder [gregoryschroeder @atthi.com) Sent* Thursday, February 27, 2003 12:04 AM To: carolyn.curti @ci.roseville.mn.us Subject: Opinion on primary election Primary Election Task Force I am unable to make it to the meeting Thursday night, but I would like to express my opinion on whether primary elections-should/should not be eliminated in Roseville. I would like the Task Force to know that I think primary elections should be eliminated for the following reasons: 1) A primary election is neither needed nor required. voters should be educating themselves about all the candidates at all times. By having just a general election residents will only have to do this once. If a primary were held residents are doing this twice, since the candidate they may have liked might have been eliminated in the primary. It will shorten the time residents have to spend deciding who to vote for or not vote far. ? ) I don't feel the pool of candidates ever needs to be narrowed down. I would hope it would give candidates more incentive to work harder to get his /her agenda out and may the best candidates prevail. 3) The city would save lots of money, the cost of holding only a general election as compared to having to bold both a primary and general election. 4) The cost to the candidates running an election campaign is getting out o f c ontro l . It's getting so the average resident, who could have a lot to offer the city} is being denied this chance because of the financial strain this puts on them. After being invdl ved in a campaign for the first time during the last election, I know from experience that the primary and general election campaigns are pretty much run as separate campaigns. You no more than get one election (primary) out of the way and you start on the next election (general). Both being equally as costly. Without a primary, you would only have to run campaign ads, send out mailings, or whatever your choice of advertising is once vs. twice. 5) If there is no primary, filing would not begin until Aug 26th, per Carolyn Curti, so this would shorten the long drawn out campaign process too. Campaign signs lining the streets, door knocking by candidates, and candidate bashing in letters-to-the-editor would not go on as tong. 6) we would not run into the problem we did at the last election, when the school board went ahead with their referendum on the primary ballot and trying to sabotage the city's referendum, which wasn't until the general election. All referendums would be on equal ground* not one taring to sabotage the other. The school district should not be allowed to nd.e on the purse strings of the city's election budget after that tactic_ Thank you for hearing my opinions on the primary election debate and I look forward to seeing my comments on your list of pros and cons being sent to the Council. 4 S Jackie Schroeder Roseville Resident 2/2712003