Nov 10, 2016
Why add to the chorus of political outrage that floods our news sources and social networks?
Because if we do not, as a people, act now, it will be lost from our consciousness till the next stolen election.
I am far from the only voice calling for the end of the electoral college. I hope I am not the only voice calling for the end of elected officials overseeing congressional redistricting. Even Trump is calling for changes to the system of congressional lobbying practices.
The US government is fundamentally broken. The will of the people is ignored. Individual votes DO NOT MATTER in the majority of the states. In this 2016 presidential election the popular vote held Hillary Clinton as its victor by 234 thousand votes. Meanwhile due to the weighting of the electoral college, the the votes of people in a state like California or New York counted only 1/3 as much as those in Wyoming. The entire election was swayed by less than 40 thousand votes cast between the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. That is less than the population of a small city.
As I see it, 5 things must change to bring the government back to serving the people.
Remove the electoral college and institute the popular vote as the deciding factor in presidential elections. One vote by any citizen must be worth just as much as a vote by any other citizen.
Appoint a non-partisan commission to institute redistricting in every state with strict guidelines that the districts be divided in to as equal proportions as possible. The shapes and arrangements of these districts should be to the peoples benefit, not the politicians.
Bring an end to the 2 party primary system in favor of multi-candidate general elections with a ranked vote. We must not be limited to the “best” the major parties have to give us. We must mot be beholden to their rules and delegate’s whims. The people must have the right to choose among all those who wish to serve.
End campaign contributions. All funds for a candidate to use while running for office shall be supplied by the state. Full accounting shall be done to unsure these funds were used only for campaign expenses. Every candidate must compete on the same playing field.
An end to Super PACs, and their assistance to campaigns. All political action committees must stay out of the election. No candidate should start out being beholden to special interests or corporate money.
No politician will propose these measures on their own. They all benefit form them too much. This is a movement that MUST be pushed by the people. In the streets. In the congressional houses. In the state houses. In the offices of every politician across this nation.
We the people must demand that our voices be heard.