First: This topic is not intended for a Republican vs Democrat. Save the accusations. Second: While there are many social and fiscal issues that are commonly argued about, I personally feel this is a very important one that is overlooked and arguably more important than many of those issues. When a majority of Americans feel like their vote really doesn't matter (regardless of party), that is voter suppression on a grand scale. My frustration begins when I applied for a drivers license after relocating to the state of GA a year ago. I informed them I would like to be registered and did my part. Friday, after a little discussion with co-workers on voting locations, I looked up my name and it did not show up. I figured our lovely local government employees screwed up and didn't get me registered properly. Im not the least bit surprised and indifferent, well, because my vote really doesn't matter in the state of GA. I decided to try today anyways, thinking perhaps I could do same day registration or get some insight at the polling booth. Upon arrival and a little checking, I am informed that I am not registered and I can do a provisional ballot. No thanks. Im fine with this until the lady tells me that this happens to many first time voters (usually young people). At this point, Im ticked. The question is, if our country is suppose to be the shining star to other countries trying to become democracies, why is our voting procedures down right atrocious? We argue over social issues and trivial issues but for decades we have completely ignored how flawed our voting system has become. ---end rant--- The inherent argument lies that voting is a states right issue. Is voting a right or a privilege? Its clearly a privilege, as from the beginning, only rich males were allowed to vote. We since then have added the poor, different ethnicities, and since have add amendments to prohibit the exclusion of blacks, women and age. Many felons can't vote and voter suppression (whether intentionally or unintentionally) runs rampant in our system, taking away someones vote. How do we end voter suppression? Whether its making entire states like New York, California and Texas nearly irreverent, or invalidating millions of voters from voting due to errors in registration, removing registration for unimportant dependencies, to making registration very difficult to invalidating felons who have served their time to employers who will not let employees take the time to vote to many of the other issues. Should we nationalize voting, take it away from the states and make it a constitutional right? Should we simply do away with the electoral college? Keep in mind we are a representative democracy and a change like this is pretty huge. Can we trust the federal government to do the right thing? Clearly our states are doing a very poor job at it. ----- Personally, I feel we should go ahead and nationalize it. If you are an American citizen with a social security number, you should automatically be registered. For the most part, felons should be allowed to vote. Since most fraud takes places at the registration level, a broad form of ID should be allowed to vote (vs a very specific form in most voter ID states). Voter fraud at the booth is not a huge issue on a national level, but on local races it can have a huge impact. Some form of ID (gov id (expired or not), SS card, registration card, ect) should be required to prevent an individual to vote on the behalf of someone so easily. Party names should not be anywhere on the polling premises, specifically the ballot. If someone can't vote for a candidate simply because of a (R) or a (D) beside their name, they shouldn't be voting in the first place. The only caveat is an information booth for each of the candidates. I still prefer the electoral college, but they should be split according to percentages. The rounding should favor the candidate winning. Kick out the party affiliates in the actual voting process. Criminal punishment of voter fraud should only reflect the damage done. For example, currently if you vote in someone elses name with their permission, its no different than voting w/out their permission. What are some changes you would advocate?
Yes to national voting standards. And yes to simplified, straightforward and verifiable voting machines. There's no reason every place should have a totally different way to vote: whether it be by mail, butterfly ballots, touchscreens, dumbass scrollwheels like we have in Texas, etc. It can't be hard to figure out which one is simplest and go with that universally.
Definitely support national voting standards. These should include- -minimum # of voting machines/# of registered voters in a district -paper record of electronic vote -SEVERE penalties for obstructing vote through misleading poll/election date information Also the electoral college should be abolished.
Yes. The acts of one state can have extreme consequences on other states, enogh to warrant federalizing this. By the way, the Electoral College is going nowhere. The Ratification Dilemna ensures it is with us forever- the states that are wildly overrepresented on account of their 2 Senators will never vote for the change, so we'll never get enough of a majority to amend the Constitution.
I'd change all elections that aren't for President to random elections. Nobody would vote, and people would be selected at random from the adult population of that voting precinct. The law of statistical averages would suggest that representation in this matter would be democratic -- a true representation of the people of that region. Second, I'd give the States the power to decide how Senators are chosen. I'd repeal the 17th amendment.
Yes. I would support a federalization of the election process that includes standardized voting machines in every district as well as a national voter registration card that includes your photo id. However, I would oppose this card being used as ID for any other purpose aside from voting. (Do not want government tracking citizens) Perhaps connect it with your social security card or something. As part of election reform I think you should be able to register a computer (laptop, home computer whatever) to vote from based on ip address that has very strict identification requirements when you login on election day that would allow you to vote from home.
