Electoral Reform

In partnership with Jim Turner, and drawing on the recommendations of Ralph Nader but exapnding them, we have created an Electoral Reform Pledge.  The key elements of Electoral Reform, which in my view is the only issue that really matters as a restoration of the Constitution and a return to informed engaged accountable democracy will take care of everything ele, are listed below.  A copy the Pledge and other usefu reform-oriented documents can be seen at www.citizens-party.org.

In
keeping with the Transpartisan Voters Protection Pledge, the Transpartisan
Policy Institute (TPI) has created a Forum on Electoral Reform.  The following Topics are included in that
Forum:

Holiday
Voting.  Proposed, that to avoid undue hardship to the hardest
workers in America,
the working poor, national and state elections shall only be held over a
week-end or on a holiday.

Honest Open Debates.  Proposed, that
to end the current monopoly of the debates by the bifurcated two-party alliance
against independent and third parties, that the League of Women Voters be
restored to their role as the managers of honest open debates, to include
third, fourth, and fifth parties.

Expanded Debates.  Proposed, that
to end the charade of one individual being up to the task of managing America,
that the debates be expanded to include a minimum of three Cabinet officials to
be announced in advance, and generally to include the Attorney General, the
Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of State.  The Transpartisan Policy Institute would
undertake the scheduling of substantive policy debates engaging all announced
candidates for specific Cabinet positions.

Instant Run-Off.  Proposed, that
to ensure the election of a winner elected by a majority, that the instant
run-off concept be adopted for all national and state elections. 

Full and Balanced Representation.  Proposed, that
we end the corrupt practice of gerrymandering, replacing it with compact
computer drawn districts similar to the kind used in Iowa http://www.legis.state.ia.us/
Redist/congress-color.pdf while
also exploring a migration toward virtual representation and an end to the
“winner take all” rule over legislative bodies.

Full Public Funding of Diverse
Candidates.  Proposed, to eliminate all federal financing of
campaign, and all political action committees and structured bundled
contributions to any candidate, that we institute a Campaign Contribution Tax Credit up to $100 per candidate up to ten
candidates per individual in each election cycle to encourage broad based individual
political campaign contributions. 

No Legislation Without Consultation.  Proposed, to
eliminate special interest dominance of the legislative process, and to end the
practice of passing legislation such as the Patriot Act without its actually
being read, that We the People require that all major legislation be published
on line in Wiki format, with an easy to understand one-page summary, one week
prior to its coming to  a vote.  This also includes a demand that all earmarks
be listed no less than one week in advance of their being considered for a
vote, and that all earmarks be offered for amendment by the voters in the
relevant district (this will ,for example, quickly eliminate favors to
corporations wanting to use public money for private gain)

White Papers and Devil’s Advocate.  Within each of
the above topics, White Papers can be proposed and created, and a Devil’s
Advocate role will be embraced, ensuring full and open consideration of all
points of view.  New topic can be
proposed and created at any time.