NRA Board of Directors: The Importance of the Bullet Ballot

Readers are aware that Ken Hanson, Buckeye Firearms Association Legislative Chair, is on the ballot for the National Rifle Association's Board of Directors. The Ballots are located in the March edition of your NRA magazine. (American Rifleman, American Hunter, and America's 1st Freedom) Ken's bio and qualifications can be reviewed in this article or at his Web site.

Buckeye Firearms Association encourages all voters to educate themselves about the various candidates on the ballot, as there are 31 people seeking to fill 25 spots. Equally important is that voters educate themselves on the mechanics of the election.

The top 25 vote-getters win the election. Each voter can vote for UP TO 25 candidates. There is no requirement, however, that all 25 votes be cast by the voter. In this type of election, voting for FEWER than 25 candidates can have a greater impact than voting for the full 25. The reasoning is as follows:

If every ballot contains 25 votes, then a good number of candidates are receiving votes "just because" a voter cast 25 votes and had to fill in more circles. In other words, every ballot is essentially voting to exclude six candidates, and the election is really about which 6 get left off the ballot most frequently. It also means that a "just because" vote counts the same as a "I know this guy and support him" vote.

Voting for fewer than 25 names targets your vote more precisely, and makes the election more about which candidate the voters support and less about a candidate that gets the "1,800 voters picked the same name I did simply to fill in 25 circles" vote. This strategy is also referred to as a "bullet ballot," as it is a targeted vote.

Buckeye Firearms Association encourages our readers to research each candidate and cast votes for only those candidates the voter feels personally informed about and comfortable with.