By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
With the Nov. 6 election a little over a month away, this is the time of year when the League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties usually hosts candidate forums to give the public a chance to learn more about candidates and their positions. Not this year.
Four Republican candidates for state and federal office have indicated that they will not be taking part in League forums this fall. Those candidates are U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, State Senate candidate Kim LaSata and State Representative candidates Brad Paquette and Pauline Wendzel.
The local League will be hosting three other forums in October, one for Three Oaks village candidates at a date to be determined, one about state ballot proposals at the Berrien RESA office in Berrien Springs on Oct. 11 and one on voter education in Benton Harbor on Oct. 20.
While some Republican candidates cited scheduling and other logistics problems, Paquette also noted that he has concerns about the League’s participation in a federal lawsuit against the state of Michigan over alleged gerrymandering of state and congressional district boundaries by Republicans as well as what he sees as the League’s partisanship.
“I chose not to go to the forum due to the partisan nature of LWV and their lawsuit against the party,” Paquette said. He’s running for the 78th state house district seat currently held by Dave Pagel. Pagel is term-limited from running for another term. Paquette faces Democrat Dean Hill in November.
Paquette noted that he’s already taken part in a candidate forum at the Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman and will take part in two forums in October. The first is Oct. 8 at the Berrien RESA office in Berrien Springs before Berrien and Cass county school board members. The second will be at the Niles District Library on Oct. 26.
The lawsuit Paquette mentioned is currently working its way through the U.S. Federal Court system. The League of Women Voters of Michigan and 11 Democratic voters filed lawsuit late last year against the state of Michigan contending that the state’s 2011 state legislative and congressional maps violated the Constitution.
Most recently, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that eight Republican Congressmen including Upton can intervene in the case. The Congressmen said they sought the right to intervene to protect their interests including the relationship between constituents and their representatives.
League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties President Marilyn Klawiter said the state organization filed the lawsuit to have the 2011 district boundaries map drawn up by a Republican controlled legislature be declared unconstitutional as it favored one party over another.
She pointed out that the League has not taken a position for or against any elected legislator or anyone running against an elected legislator. She said the local League supports the lawsuit because it is consistent with the League’s mission of encouraging civic engagement and removing unnecessary barriers to full participation in the electoral process.
As for charges that the League is partisan and favors Democrats, she said the League is nonpartisan and committed to remaining nonpartisan. It does not support any candidate or political party. She said members study issues and reach consensus to advocate for certain positions.
Klawiter did not mention the League’s lawsuit against the state of Michigan in a letter to the editor to area newspapers earlier this month. In the letter, she noted that four candidate forums would not be held because the Republican candidates rejected the invitation from the League.
“When candidates run for office, they are asking us the people to trust them to make responsible decisions—decisions that are good for the people they represent,” she wrote. “But when a person says “trust me,” a logical response is “why?” Michigan citizens are entitled to an answer to that question from every candidate who asks for their vote.”
“Voting is both a privilege and a duty,” she wrote. “To do it well, we need good tools. The most important tool is information. We can make good decisions about who to vote for only if we find out what a candidate stands for. And we learn what a candidate stands for when the candidate tells us what he or she thinks about important issues.”
Although the League has questioned Republican candidates for not participating in debates, the local League will not sponsor one debate they’ve been asked to do. League members said there is not enough time before the Nov. 6 election to host a forum for Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees candidates.
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