The Previous Electoral College System
Our second constitution used the Electoral College System for electing presidents which meant that it was not the majority vote of the people that elected a President. Instead, under the Electoral College, a candidate could win if he got the most votes from Electors from all the 50 states.
Under the previous Electoral College System there were 538 total electoral votes (combining the numbers of the House and Senate) from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Here is how the Electoral College system worked: Let us say, for pedagogical purposes, that Indiana, for example, had 12 Electors (based on its total number of legislators in both the House of Representatives and the Senate). If presidential candidate Anthony got 5 electoral votes, based on 36% of the popular votes in Indiana; and presidential candidate Bertha got 4 electoral votes based on 35% of the popular votes in Indiana; and candidate Connie got 3 electoral votes, based on 29% of the popular votes in Indiana, then all of Indiana's 12 electoral votes would go to candidate Anthony because he received the most electoral votes.
But Anthony, in this example, did not receive a majority of the electoral votes, nor did he receive a 51% majority of the popular votes in Indiana. Anthony received what is called a plurality, or the highest percentage, of the votes compared to the other candidates. This system was also called the "winner takes all" system because Anthony won in Indiana with only 36% of the popular votes, which allowed him to gain all 12 of the electoral votes in Indiana. So, when Indiana would cast its 12 votes , all 12 of them would go to and for presidential candidate Anthony since he got a plurality of the votes. (End of Explanation of the Electoral College System)
A better election method would be to say that the presidential candidate who gets the most popular votes in the United States wins. But there is a third method that is even better than this second method. It is called Instant Runoff Voting. Some political theorists say there are sometimes problems with the way IRV works. The good thing about the Third Constitution is that it will be much easier to amend, and also much easier to abolish as well.
How Instant Runoff Voting Works
Instant Runoff Voting is used when voters have to choose only one candidate as the winner such as when voting for a President (as opposed to Proportional Representation where seven different parties can get a proportional representation in the national legislature). With Instant Runoff Voting, in the final analysis, a candidate has to get a 51% majority to win--not a plurality but a majority--but it may take two or three, or possibly even four rounds of voting for a candidate to get a 51% majority or higher.
To start, let's say there are 7 candidates, one from each of the top 7 national political parties: Republican candidate, Democratic candidate, Libertarian candidate, Green Party candidate, Constitution Party candidate, Socialist Party candidate, and Communist Party candidate. Each voter has to choose just one candidate from the list of 7 equally empowered national political parties. Of course, a voter could vote for a relatively unknown person, but it is unlikely that that person will win.
Here are the results of the first hypothetical vote: Republican Party candidate 30%, Democratic Candidate 10%, Libertarian Party candidate 20%, Green Party candidate 30%, Constitution Party candidate 5%, Socialist Party candidate 3%, and Communist Party candidate 2%. With 10%, 5%, 3%, and 2% respectively, the Democratic candidate, Constitution Party candidate, Socialist and Communist candidates are all dropped from the race because they cannot possibly secure a 51 percent majority. The Democratic Party with 10% might want to contest that, and they could be considered in the Second Round of voting. No candidate at this point has a 51% majority.
Now the contest is between the Republican presidential candidate who got 30% in the First Round of voting, the Libertarian presidential candidate who got 20%, and the Green presidential candidate who got 30%. Remember a candidate has to get at least a 51% majority after the very Last Round of voting to win. Here are the results of the Second Round of voting: Republican candidate 35%, Libertarian candidate 20%, and Green candidate 45%. But still no candidate has a 51% majority. But since the Libertarian candidate got the least of the three, she will be dropped from the race.
Now the contest is between the Green candidate and the Libertarian candidate, and here are the results of the Third Round of voting: Green Party candidate 48% and Republican Party candidate 52%. Therefore, the Republican candidate is the next President. (End of Explanation of Instant Runoff Voting)
The National Elections Committee
Under the Third Constitution, there will be a National Elections Committee whose 7 executive directors will come from the 7 largest national political parties. The National Elections Committee will guarantee that we have impartial and professional election officials in every precinct who will insure that uniform or standardized procedures of voting are established. The NEC will also insure that the national political parties provide an accurate count of their actual numbers.
Reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine
Antitrust laws will be enforced to break up media conglomerates. Cable TV monopolies will be broken. The Fairness Doctrine will be restored. Free media time and public financing will be offered to candidates of the top 7 political parties.
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