April 19, 2024

How to Fix a Broken Electoral Selection Process

learning with pencil No, I’m not talking balloting… Though there’s a lot to be said for 4,000 dead people being on the voter roles in Houston and one person registering to vote 72 times1. I’m talking about a two-party system.  The system that gives us no other choice that what two dominate political parties suggest.

Previously, I laid out the blueprint for how to get an Electable Third Party Candidate. But if this were truly something that the American people believed in, there are things that the government could do as well.

Eliminate Gerrymandering

In case you’re not familiar with the concept, each state is divided up into Congressional districts for the purpose of electing and sending representatives to Congress.  Each state gets to dictate how these districts will be set up, and in recent years the states have drawn districts in strange ways in order to preserve the seat for their party.

This has to stop.

If we eliminated gerrymandering we would have the potential to have someone other than a Republican or Democrat in the house, and we would not see the same person (or party) get the seat year after year unless they truly were representative of the people.

Government Promotion of a Third Party Through Funding

Radical, and contrary to my Non-Government-Interference ideals, I know.  But if we’re already giving public funds to the candidates, and it’s in the best interest to have a probable third party candidate, why not give them the funding they need to compete?

Much of the funding of the big candidates comes from the fact that they are “electable.”  Just look at the fight between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama in the primaries.  Once people believed Sen. Obama was “the one”, funding for Sen. Clinton dropped and she went in debt even before the primaries were over.

Abolishing of Current Major Parties

Since a majority of people are sheep—voting for their party regardless of their beliefs, punching a giant reset button could work.  If we abolished Democrats and Republicans, and fostered more of the core beliefs (social and fiscal, conservative and liberal) it may be the case that in the rally for reassembling there would be credible third and forth party candidates that could gain traction.

At Bob Jones University, every student must join a literary society, but some societies tend to get larger and gain momentum.  In order to provide choice, the University sometimes split larger ones, or restricted membership in order to get more choice.  Perhaps something like this could be proposed on the national level where there would be limited membership, and you could have coalitions built, but not the kind of monopolies that you have now.

Vote all of Congress out?

The ultimate reset.  59% of Americans would vote to throw them all out.  Would you?

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  1. Thanks to Sen. Obama’s old employer, ACORN. []

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