Post Your Ideas For US Election Reform

[arwalden]

Mandatory voting. Everyone who is legally able to vote *must* vote, or pay a $100 fine.

National holiday. Election day is a national holiday.

Two day voting. Polls are open for 48 hours straight.

[Wapsie B]

1. No private companies controlling election software.

Bipartisan voting panels oversee elections in each state.

[blondeatlast]

2. An entire week of voting.

All television media subject to FCC oversight to broadcast one hour per night (same hour, time zone dependent) of issues (not candidate) information--either as objective as possible or a REASONED debate (as in Parlaimentary Procedure--not the wackiness that passes for Presidential candidate debates). This will begin immediately after the two major parties have chosen their candidates.

Child care provided at the polls.

Early ballots that can be taken to the polling place and verified.

NO FORECASTED RESULTS PRIOR TO THE ABSOLUTE LAST POLLING PLACE CLOSURE. In fact, no forecasting period.

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. Throw every evoting machine in the nearest garbage can.

National Holiday, WITH PAY, on election day.

Paper ballots only.

Exit polling MANDATORY!

[SoCalDem]

4. Easy Peasy

Offices with national significance are even-year..Local/state/propositions/judges are odd-year

The MOST anyone would have to vote for on even year would be 3:
house
senate
president

some years would be 2

The ballot woulkd be cardstock 5 x 7 (standard for EVERY STATE)

a picture..name ..and a box next to each candidate
a "no vote" box
a sharpie pen
a lockbox

at the end of the day, all ballots would be counted TWO ways..
1. for total cast compared to signed in voters
2. tallied by votes for each person

a chalkboard with tic-marks would be adequate for most polliing stations

each party would oversee the count
when totals were accepted, they would be phoned in to a central counting station..

Totals written on the box and the whole process videotaped (a backup record)...(boxes numbered and sealed for easy recoount, if necessary)

Odd year elections could be done on diamond-studded, platinum Diebold machines, because the rest of us don't give a crap who wins the animal control officer job in Podunk, Idaho...but we DO give a crap who they send to DC ..(not specifically WHO, but just that the person with the most votes)

[sinkingfeeling]

6. I agree, except I want three people to count. One from each party, and

an election official (county provided) whose sole job is seeing that the election and counts go smoothly. The ballot would be passed hand to hand and each calling out the recorded vote.

Also, tax funded campaigns with no additional donations above $25 per person. No PACs, no corporate donations. The re-establishment of 'equal time' on all tv and radio. No debates, but equal coverage of candidate position statements and speeches.

[saltpoint]

5. Just a few suggestions:

1 -- Round up all Republicans and institutionalize them;
2 -- Round up all fundamentalist nutcases and bury them alive;
3 -- Let Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Al Gore, and Shirley Franklin oversee a 50-state comprehensive, no-matter-what conversion to paper ballots, no exceptions;
4 -- After this work is done, return to institutionalized Republicans and torture them for stealing the last two elections.

I'm in a zero tolerance mood re BushCo stealing my Constitution.

[abluelady]

7. Taxpayers Money Used for Elections

Let every taxpayer pay $1 on their taxes and that money be divided among the parties and the candidates. No other funds can be used and campaigning can only be done for three months before the election.

[Golden Raisin]

8. No more Electoral College.

Also, if Election Day(s) are not made a national holiday, then elections should be held over a weekend, so most Monday-Friday working people can actually get to the polls to vote without its being a major hassle.

[yellowdogmi]

9. How about voting from home

They could use a secure number such as our SSN. Harnessing the internet for this purpose has the potential to help us become a much more representative democracy. If it can be used for secure transactions why not voting? Of course fraud could occur, but what has stopped it from happening the last few cycles? I like the idea of a national holiday! Can we get free beer from the canidates too? Just some random thoughts. Thanks.