10 Election Reform Policies that anyone who cares about the democratic process really should support.
The United States is a democratic republic, but our elections are an absolute mess. In an ideal democracy (either direct or republic), as close to 100% of adult citizens should be voting in every election, and the results should be as representative as possible. Here are some ways to work towards that:
1. Automatic voter registration. All adult citizens should automatically be on the voter lists. This means no one is denied the right and responsibility to vote because they were unable to register on time.
2. Mail In Ballots should be automatic and available for all. (Mail In ballots allow for people with busy schedules who would struggle to get to voting places to vote, but also allows voters the time to fully research all of the candidates and issues at their own pace.)
3. Voting rights should not be denied to anyone based on criminal record. (Felons and inmates should be allowed to vote, as they are still citizens. Especially given issues of racial inequality within the criminal justice system AND how things like drug laws are inconsistent across the states, it is not reasonable to deny this right and responsibility from people with criminal backgrounds.)
4. Voting should be obligatory. (While filing out a ballot with “abstain” on it will remain legal and allowable, a ballot MUST be submitted or else is punishable by a fine proportional to the person’s income. This encourages participation and awareness in elections, and also legally obligates the government to take further action to make voting universally available.)
5. Switch to either Ranked Voting systems (For elections with only 1 open seat) or Party Proportional Voting (For elections with multiple open seats) to promote more representative results and empower voting for 3rd party candidates.
6. Revoke Citizens United and limit campaign spending.
7. For Presidential Elections, eliminate the Electoral College and move to a Ranked Voting System. (The Electoral College means that only the large cities in a few swing states states have real voting power in Presidential Elections, disincentives candidates from visiting the “safe” states, gives some citizens votes more power than others, erases the votes of political minorities within states, and puts us at risk of having a winner that is not representative of the majority of voters, which has happened 5 times.)
8. Extend the voting period of elections over several days, including at least 1 federal holiday. (This is less important if universal mail in ballots are enacted, but is a good alternative, allowing more people to be able to get to a polling place.)
9. Phase out all electronic ballot machines and move back to paper based voting. (Electronic ballot machines have been shown to be less reliable and more prone to manipulation.)
10. Fixing heavily gerrymandered districts. (Depending on how an implementation of Party Proportional Voting was implemented, the need for specific districts could be phased out, but should they remain, all voting districts would need non-partisan review at least once a decade to ensure gerrymandering wasn’t at work.)
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