Difference between revisions of "Electoral and Campaign Finance Reform"

Revision as of 22:34, 4 June 2016

Background: Democracy refers as much to a lively political culture as to a system of government. A diverse society needs a pluralistic structure to allow the widest possible range of views to heard. To truly enfranchise citizens, everyone must have the right and the ability to their say.

The United States has one of the lowest voter turnouts among established democracies. In a healthy democracy, high voter turnout results from the ability of voters to cast votes to elect candidates who reflect their views. By contrast, the U.S. single-seat, winner-take-all electoral system greatly limits voter choice and representation -- a disincentive to vote -- especially when combined with campaign finance laws that give disproportionate influence to big money.

The result is that many who do vote, go to the polls primarily to vote for what they are against -- the 'lesser-of-two-evils' -- because there is no candidate on the ballot representing their views; or if so, none they believe has a chance of being elected. California's failed top two experiment has only made this worse, limiting voters to only two choices in the general election, and making ballot access in the primary more difficult. This reduction in choice has led to historically low voter turnout. When few eligible voters participate and elect our representatives, the legitimacy and representative nature of our democracy is diminished.

Greens support a system where all voters can cast a vote towards actually electing someone who reflects their views, and where as many parties have a real chance at winning seats, as represent the diversity of the electorate. How can we get there?

Much electoral reform debate focuses upon who should draw districts lines, and how to make district elections competitive. But competitive districts don't mean representative elections. Equally important is 'how and how many representatives are elected per district' and 'how many representatives are elected overall'.

California has the lowest per-capita state representation in the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_U.S._state_governments). The number of seats in the California state legislature was set in 1879 when California's statewide population was approximately 865,000 (http://www.dof.ca.gov/research/demographic/state_census_data_center/historical_census_1850-2010/documents/2010-1850_STCO_IncCities-FINAL.xls). As of 2016, it is over 39 million (http://www.dof.ca.gov/research/demographic/reports/estimates/e-1/documents/E-1_2016PressRelease.pdf)-- yet the number of seats has never been increased.

At the same time, single-seat, winner-take-all district elections are not capable of representing the diversity of California voters. Incorporating multi-seat districts with proportional representation would ensure that more voices are heard. Combined with more seats and smaller districts, this could promote the broadest representation.

Additionally, the effects of redistricting and partisan / incumbent gerrymandering produce insidious distortions of 'democracy'. A study by the non-partisan Center for Voting and Democracy showed that redistricting turned 80% of congressional districts into non-competitive, one-party bastions where voters had little choice but to ratify the candidate of the major party that controlled that district. The situation has been made much worse with Top Two that disenfranchises all third parties and can even exclude major party candidates for the runoff election. In effect, politicians are choosing the runoff voters.

California suffers from a 'democratic deficit', because our electoral system is structurally incapable of representing our diversity. A more inclusive system needs to take its place.

Term Limits - term limits are necessiated by winner-take all systems. Making incumbents , combined with distircts that by geograhy will produce a poitn o view. Districting can actually water down represtnaitn , when all views.

Amendment of the California Voting Rights Act to include ranked choice voting as an equal option to districts

By lowering the age, making it automatic with opt-out.

Hence the base for our democracy is narrow.

, other way

those registered more

by implemting electoral reforms that their vote will count towareds electing someone, also increase total registeration,

Can't change date of federal elections. Either make setate holiday or weekend voting for primary.

and make it easier to vote.

Proposals: The Green Party proposes:

. Electoral Reform

Abolish the Top Two system that perpetuates the major party hegemony and replace it with proportional representation (See

a system of multi-seat districts with proportional representation for the California state legislature multi-seat districts with proportional representation for legislative elections, and ranked choice voting for single-seat executive office.

- Statewide Office

1.  Replace the current system of with more seats including possiblity of a unicameral o

Combined with giving those registered more reason to vote -- and making it easier for them to cast their votes -- can expand the representative level of our elections.

Expansion of same-day registration

Tehre can be value in geogrpahic represetnation, if part oa systme tha tmixes districts and But if distircts, number should be incresed, to amek smaller and hence cost les. Any districts should be elected by ranked choice voting, to give fullest voice the voters.

Ballot access

Lower the signature and fee requirements to get on the ballot in the primaries.

Restore write-in voting in General Elections

Strengthen laws to protect voting rights Make voting systems secure, reliable and verifiable Stop scams and intimidation campaigns that drive people away from the polls Ensure that every voter has an equal say in presidential elections End partisan redistricting, so voters choose our representatives rather than the other way around

Open source code for elections, not proprietary While millions of Americans pay our taxes, do our banking, earn our livelihood, and buy and sell products and services online, today's email and Internet voting systems -- and those that will be available in the foreseeable future -- cannot be relied on to produce accurate, verifiable vote counts.

The growing use of those systems in some states creates the possibility that some candidates will lose, or perhaps already have lost, elections despite receiving more votes than their opponents. That's unacceptable.

Common Cause has partnered in research to document the problems with online voting systems.  Automated Registration: election officials automatically register eligible citizens by electronically transmitting reliable information from government list;  Portability: Once an eligible citizen is on a state‘s voter rolls, she remains registered and her records move with her so long as she continues to reside in that state;  Safety Net: Eligible citizens can correct errors on the voter rolls before and on Election Day; and  Online Access: Voters can register, check and update their registration records through a secure and accessible online portal. The Voter Empowerment Act serves as a model to modernize our voter registration process.

Electoral Reform

6.  Hold elections on non-working days. Saturdays and Sundays are the worldwide day of choice. Holidays, such as Veterans Day, should also be considered.  

Redistricting

Public debates general

7.  Take the redistricting process away from politicians and place it under the control of elected citizen boards that represent the various partisan, civic and minority constituencies. Criteria for drawing the boundaries should be developed to make all legislative districts as competitive as possible.  

Supports more districts, better per capita, and a change with further census to keep ratio. Multi-seat districts. Where a combination.

Voter Registration

- Lower the voter registration age to 16, with automatic voter registration via the public schools

- Enact same day registration

- Enact Permanent Portable Voter Registration

and the voting age to 16 (http://www.fairvote.org/lower_the_voting_age#why_should_we_lower_the_voting_age_to_16)

8.  Run candidates reflecting the diversity of the larger culture.  The Green party will strive to do this.

10. Allow eligible candidates to pay postage rates one quarter of the regular rate, as well as free access to the airwaves.

11. Establish contribution limits for Political Action Committees (PACs) with less than 50 members to prevent wealthy people from using their funds to unduly influence elections.

12. Prohibit political parties from using "soft money" - transfers from other campaigns or party coffers - to pay for any election-related activities.

13. State on political advertisements the sources of campaign funds in excess of $100.

14. Oppose the resignation of a legislator to become a lobbyist on the basis of conflict of interest

Other electoral reforms deserving our support in varying degrees are:

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)

IRV is an important reform for single-seat races such as mayor, governor, Congress and state legislatures. IRV allows voters to rank their choices first, second, third, etc., and operates like a series of runoff elections. If a voter's first choice doesn't win, their vote transfers to their second choice, and so on. IRV allows voters to vote their conscience without "wasting" their vote on a candidate not likely to win, or being forced in to choosing between the "lesser of two evils."

None of the Above (NOTA)

NOTA can be effective in party primaries. If none of the candidates seeking the party's nomination are satisfactory, party members can vote NOTA. If NOTA wins, no candidate advances to the general election. In a general election NOTA can have mixed results. NOTA would allow voters to express their dissatisfaction with all available candidates. However, a vote for NOTA takes away the "protest votes" that would otherwise go to minor party candidates. This perpetuates the two-party monopoly by increasing their share of the total candidate-votes, further reducing the share received by minor party candidates. Also, NOTA could force a second, expensive election where the party with the most money would likely prevail.

Fusion

Under fusion, one party can endorse another party's candidate. That candidate then appears on the ballot of all parties endorsing her or him. In winner-take-all systems, fusion can help smaller parties by allowing them to unite around a single candidate and combine their strength. However, a minor party could lose its independence by fusing with a major party candidate, thus failing to provide an alternative to the major parties.