|
by Gary J
I was looking through Daily Kos, when I came upon a thread about Michigan's attempt to move its Presidential primary into January.
Looking at US elections it seems to me that one of the causes of problems is the need to have both a primary and a general election. Looking at the US Constitution, Congress has the power to legislate a uniform scheme for House and Senate elections. Arguably it could also determine how Presidential elections should be conducted, without needing a constitutional amendment, although the basis for this might not be upheld by the courts. I would suggest that a proportional representation system for the House and Senate (such as the Single Transferable Vote or an unordered party list) would improve how state delegations to the House were selected. However as Americans do not seem sufficiently interested in this change I am proposing to address the problem of filling single places. The main reform proposal which Americans seem interested in is Instant Runoff Voting. This seems to mean that all candidates except the first two (or the lead candidate of the first two parties on the list of first preference votes) are eliminated before preferences of the eliminated candidates voters are consulted to determine the final winner. This seems unfair to the candidates eliminated, who might conceivably have broader acceptability than the two who make it to the runoff stage (Chirac and Le Pen say in a comparable European example or crook Edwin Edwards and white supremacist David Duke in a Louisiana gubernatorial runoff). Extracts from the US constitution and my suggestion is after the fold.
Constitutional provisions
Article I
Article II
Proposal for Presidential Elections The voters of the state rank each team in order of preference. The voter should be free to decide how many preferences to give (unlike the Australian system, which requires a preference for every candidate for a valid ballot paper). If a team has 50% plus one of the valid votes their slate would be elected. If not the last placed team would be eliminated and any further preferences redistributed. The margin required for victory would be 50% plus one of the ballot papers with a preference for a continuing candidate. The process would be repeated until a winning ticket emerged.
House and Senate Elections
Advantages
|
Menu
. Home
. About . Contact . New User Guide . FAQ . Search . Search (Google) . Archives (Wiki) Art, Economics, Energy, Environment, EU Politics, Mech & Tech, By Country Login
|
|
|
A better way to run US elections | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
A better way to run US elections | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
| ||
| ||