I have an idea and would love some feedback on it. This is probably the perfect community to pose this too. Clearly our electoral process in the United States is so broken and antiquated. We have the electoral college saying one thing and the popular vote saying another. Also, less than half of the voting age population took place in voting. On top of all of that we only have two major parties that are realistically recognized. That is just the system and how it is set up. This doesn't touch on any errors that could come in from counting paper ballots or machine malfunctioning because they are decades old. On top of that glitches in software and totaling up from so many different sites. Even more scary is all the accusations of voter and/or election fraud. Between people pushing for candidates at voters sites, potential hacking of voter machines and registering/mailing deceased people's votes it is just nuts. All of this could put either of the major party candidates in the white house over the other.
Here is my proposal and I know it can't be done over night but something needs to change.
- Get rid of the electoral college! What the hell is the point in this modern era? The election comes down to only popular vote.
- Stop the classifying to political parties. At very least get rid of any barriers that come with being considered a 'major' party to run
- Switch to a rank voting system. With all the players being considered, a tiny minority could actually win it for one person otherwise.
- Create a block chain backed voting system. This includes making the process completely transparent. Sorry but no more being ashamed of who you vote for. The record is kept and the ledger is out there for all to see and count if they desire. No one can change it or tamper with it. No more worrying about rigging, malfunctions, or election/voter fraud of any sort.
- Open and transparent interests and donations taken. What money is financing there campaigns and what companies are involved.
That's just about it. I think the proposals take care of a lot of wrong doing in the election process and even in politics in general. It may even take away from some of the negativity in the process. How can you run a negative ad on so many other candidates. The candidate might just have to focus on their strengths and policy positions to win people over. Hell campaigning cost might even go way down! I know this is more of a pipe dream. If steps are taken in the direction of these ideals a lot more could be accomplished. Transparency and accountability are some of the biggest things we are missing from our government.
Let me know what you think! It would be a long road but is it even the right track? Would you be able to buy into the notions? Especially the transparency of who you voted for. What tweaks would you add or take away from this? Or is this just complete garbage that never should have been suggested? Thanks for reading!
This is a great article. I have been banging on about this vision for over 12 months and my message is just getting through..!!
BLOCKCHAIN + DEMOCRACY + VOTING = GAME CHANGER
Was happy to share this on Twitter. Stephen.
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Thank you! Keep it up, you gained me support in me.
The ballot should remain secret comrade.
Yes, that part is an extreme. I do think that is one way to fight any type of fraud in the system. It would make people have to shift their way of thinking about privacy around voting for sure. I am personally for it but know the vast majority wouldn't be
And what about the knock on your door in the dark of night.
Men with guns are there when you open it.
"Comrade...we understand that you voted inappropriately..
Come with us please."
It's happened time and time throughout history.
The ballot should be private to prevent it.
That is a great point and maybe i'm too naive with that part. Just looking at protests happening now, just imagine if they had a list of the people to go knocking on their door. Thanks for the feedback!
I had not read much about the actual purpose of the Electoral College until this morning.
"Federalist 68 argued that an Electoral College should determine if candidates are qualified, not engaged in demagogy, and independent from foreign influence. Mr. Trump shows us again and again that he does not meet these standards. Given his own public statements, it isn’t clear how the Electoral College can ignore these issues, and so it should reject him."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/opinion/why-i-will-not-cast-my-electoral-vote-for-donald-trump.html?_r=1
I had always heard it was a way for elitist landowning types to prevent the mob from making a "mistake," meaning electing someone who didn't represent their elite interests. I had never seen specific dis-qualifications before.
This is a fantastic article. Can I cite your article (not steal your content) for others to refer to? Also, can I use the same image you posted up top? I saw that you have attached image credits. It really helps me better understand this idea. Thanks so kindly!