Electoral and Campaign Finance Reform
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. Many who do vote, go to the polls primarily to vote for what they are against. California's failed top two experiment has only made this worse, limiting voters to only two choices in the general election, and making primary ballot access 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.
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, and single-seat, winner-take-all district elections are not capable of representing the diversity of California voters.
Greens support the use of multi-seat districts with proportional representation for the state legislature, and ranked-choice voting for statewide executive office.
Greens also support a larger legislature - California currently has by far 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). Today that many people live within a single State Senate District and are represented by a single State Senator, and the state population is over 39 million -- yet the number of seats has never been increased (as of 2016 http://www.dof.ca.gov/research/demographic/reports/estimates/e-1/documents/E-1_2016PressRelease.pdf).
Proposals: The Green Party proposes:
Voting Systems
- Enact a system of multi-seat districts with proportional representation for the California state legislature, and ranked choice voting for single-seat executive office. Increase the number of seats in the legislature.
- Abolish the Top Two system for state and federal elections
Election Dates
- Make the June primary election and the November general election state holidays
, and/or may
to a state holidayCan't change date of federal elections. Either make setate holiday or weekend voting for primary. and make it easier to vote.
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.
Voter Registration
- Enact same day voter registration
- Lower the voter registration age to 16, with automatic voter registration via the public schools(http://www.fairvote.org/lower_the_voting_age#why_should_we_lower_the_voting_age_to_16)
- Enact Permanent Portable Voter Registration, so that once an eligible citizen is on a state‘s voter rolls, they remain registered and their records move with them so long as they continue to reside in that state.
California State Legislature
- Elect the California state le
Increase the size of the state legislature to make smaller districts and/or
and allow for multi-seats districts
Such large districts increase the cost of elections and the role of big money in elections
can actually water down represtnaitn , when all views.
By lowering the age, making it automatic with opt-out.
Restore write-in voting in General 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.
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.
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.
Automated Registration: election officials automatically register eligible citizens by electronically transmitting reliable information from government list; Portability: 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.
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.
