First Steps to Election Reform

[onthebench]

As I stated elsewhere there are so many ways to reform elections that do not have us bogged down fighting the machines...

1. Make it a mandatory requirement that everyone when they turn 18 that they register to vote.

2. If you do not want to vote for any election, you have to send a form in to the county election office that you abstain for the election. You do not have to give a reason. You do not have to vote. This way all voters are accounted for. Think about this - if a candidate wins an election by 55% of the vote - he/she says that he/she won a mandate. What if the percent includes the non-voter? This means that their winning percentage is reported as a percent of the voting population. How good would they feel with the truer percentage of 30%? This also is a way to keep voter rolls up to date as every election, you have to account for the people in the voting population. This goes one step further of the BBV calling for full accounting. How can you do a full accounting when half of those that you are counting do not get involved even to the point of abstaining? Also make it a $50 fine if you do not at least abstain at each election. This is a half step back from the Aussie (and others) mandatory voting rules. You can send out cards to those that did not vote in the last election with self addressed cards to turn in. You can turn in the card postmarked by the day after the election (in case you get sick or miss the polls).

3. Make every state election office be made of of a representative of any political party that holds at least 5% of the registered vote in that state. No more one person rule in each state. The person is elected by the members of each party for a 10 year term. This way elections are run by all that are involved. Connecticut and New York do this on a county/muni level and the two parties work together fine. What if Blackwell had an equal counterpart in OH? Would half of the posts be complaining about a conspiracy?

4. Every county/city board of elections is also represented equally by members of each party with more than 5% of the voter population. Same reason as #3.

More to come as they hit me in the shower...

Peace

[NanceGreggs]

1. I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this ...

... but I've had an idea which is so CRAZY, it just might WORK (as they said in those old '40s movies!)

What if every voter got a receipt after voting, which entitled them to a tax deduction? You get a deduction for contibuting to charity; why not a deduction for contributing to your own country's electroral process?

I know what you're thinking -- people shouldn't expect 'something' for simply voting. But there's more to my plan than that.

If every polling place had to issue a 'receipt' for tax purposes, it would ENSURE A PAPER TRAIL for every vote. The receipt could come in two parts - one with your voting information on it, another to be detached (sans specific vote information) to your tax returns for a nominal deduction.

In the case of a necessary recount, the 'receipt' would serve as a verifiable paper confirmation of HOW you voted, as well as where and when.

I can't imagine that ANY voter -- even those who think the current no-paper-trail systems are not open to fraud -- would argue against a system that actually 'gives' them a few bucks for their efforts.

Unfortunately, many people only donate to charity for the tax deduction -- why not encourage these same people to VOTE!

Just a thought ...

[onthebench]

2. I have heard a similar proposal

Avante originally proposed having coupons on the back for municipal services like ($5 off your next license). The problem is that what do you do for the millions of people who do not pay taxes? The problem is that you have to make sure that all voters are accounted. This way it makes it really hard to mess with vote totals and it puts perspective for the politicians as to how many people really are voting for them.

I like the effort though

[PDJane]

3. Hm........

I find the discussion of American voting procedures rather interesting. Although we share so much in the way of culture, Canada is a different country, and it's really obvious when it comes to voting procedures.

Canada is a commonwealth country, and runs on the British Parlaimentary system. There are the standard two houses, our senate is appointed rather than elected, and mainstream politics appears to be much more liberal than in the US. We do not have anything approaching the electoral college.

However, the most important differences seem to be in the way the vote is held and tallied, and the way that we run the elections. Canada has a separate section of the civil service which deals exclusively with elections, and has had since 1920, when we created the office of Chief Electoral Officer. In 1927, that law was amended so that this individual would be appointed by resolution of the House of Commons, rather than by the government of the day. It was thus recognized that the office needed to have the confidence of all political parties represented in the House of Commons. The Chief Electoral Officer is responsible to Parliament, rather than to the government.

The constitutionally entrenched right to vote is stated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that “Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.”

The previous system meant that a universal enumeration was undertaken when an election was called. That, although accurate, became prohibitively expensive. There is now a National Register of Electors, and that information is shared between various agencies to save on the expenses.

In Canada, convicted felons are not disenfranchised, either while incarcerated or after their release; there is no provision like the one in Florida. Any citizen may vote, whether they are on the lists or not, by complying with federal requirements.

Our count is still made by hand, with several layers of protections, and the tallies are public.

It's all very different.

[onthebench]

4. I am familiar with at least Provincial Elections

I toured the Toronto office of the Ontario elections. One other interesting way of voting is the proxy voting. How do people feel about that? I just can not imagine a US citizen wanting that type of voting. Imagine me walking to the polls with my wife's vote in hand! Ha! She would never give it to me. She would think that I would get lost along the way...

[PDJane]

5. The proxy vote

is meant to allow those who are disabled and housebound to vote, if they are capable of making the determination. It doesn't raise all that much fuss for some reason; it's a different country! The business of felons being allowed to vote is the part that usually upsets my American pals, for some reason.

[Febble]

6. From a Brit:

Simplify your ballots.