To the editor:

If there is anything that should be fair, it should be an election.

We know that being listed first on the ballot provides an advantage. That is why ballot positions are determined by lottery — to give every candidate an equal opportunity.

Under our current partisan system, independent candidates are automatically placed at a disadvantage (at the bottom of the ballot).

Portsmouth has more registered unaffiliated (independent) voters than registered Republicans and Democrats combined. Why should unaffiliated (independent) voters, and the candidates who represent them, be treated differently simply because they are not affiliated with one of the two Rhode Island-sanctioned political parties?

Changing Portsmouth Town Council and School Committee elections to nonpartisan would eliminate that inequity. Every candidate would appear on the ballot on an equal basis.

Local elections should be about the people running for office, their qualifications, their ideas, and their records — not about national political party labels.

Nonpartisan elections would give every candidate the same starting point and every voter the same opportunity to make an informed choice. That seems like a simple matter of fairness.

Please join me in voting YES (approve) on Question 7.

Nancy Grieb

Portsmouth