Taking the partisan out of local elections

On this 22nd day of July, I have some wonderments about the upcoming elections.  In the recent primary election, there were a number of cases where all of the candidates were from the same political party.  This presented a dilemma for a voter who had a favorite candidate for a county office, but who also wished to vote for state or federal office candidates who didn’t appear on the same ballot.

Since the duties of the County Treasurer, County Clerk and Recorder, County Sheriff/Coroner, County School Superintendent, and County Attorney are determined by State and County statutes, and really have no justification for making partisan decisions, it occurs to me that the candidates for these offices do not need to be partisan.  

From what I have learned so far, the process necessary to change from the current election procedure to one that would allow these specific offices to be non-partisan, requires a petition to be signed by fifteen percent of the number of voters in the previous election. 

If there are people out there who share my wonderment about this matter, I would like to hear from them.  Perhaps there is a way to give more of us a chance to vote for the most qualified persons to fill these county positions.  

Edd Blackler, Bigfork