A1. Democracy - Electoral Reform

[AnthonyAú]

Platform - Green Party US
  I. Democracy
    A. Political Reforms
      1. Electoral Reform

• Enact proportional representation voting systems for legislative seats on municipal, county, state and federal levels.
  
  Proportional representation systems provide that voters are represented in the proportion their views are held in society; and are based on dividing seats proportionally within multi-seat districts, compared to the standard U.S. single-seat, winner-take all districts.
  
  Forms of proportional representation include ranked-choice voting (RCV) (candidate-based), party list (party-based) and mixed member proportional (MMP) voting (combines proportional representation with district representation).
  
• Enact Ranked Choice Voting for chief executive offices like mayor, governor and president and other single-seat offices including U.S. Senate.
  
  Under Ranked Choice Voting, voters can rank candidates in their order of preference (1,2,3, etc.)
  
  Ranked Choice Voting ensures that the eventual winner has majority support; and eliminates vote-splitting, allowing voters to express their preferences knowing that supporting their favorite candidate will not inadvertently help their least favored candidate.
  
  Ranked Choice Voting thus frees voters from being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, allows them to vote their hopes, not their fears, and saves public funds by eliminating unnecessary run-off elections.
  
• Enact Ranked Choice Voting for chief executive offices like mayor, governor and president and other single-seat offices including U.S. Senate.
  
  Under Ranked Choice Voting, voters can rank candidates in their order of preference (1,2,3, etc.)
  
  Ranked Choice Voting ensures that the eventual winner has majority support; and eliminates vote-splitting, allowing voters to express their preferences knowing that supporting their favorite candidate will not inadvertently help their least favored candidate.
  
  Ranked Choice Voting thus frees voters from being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, allows them to vote their hopes, not their fears, and saves public funds by eliminating unnecessary run-off elections.
  
• Substantially expand the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives together with electing the House from multi-seat districts by proportional representation – both by Federal legislation – to help make the House far more representative of the nation's population and rich diversity.
  
  Towards this end, amend or repeal the The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 (https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Permanent-Apportionment-Act-of-1929/), which limits the size of the House; and amend or repeal and replace the 1967 law (PL 90-196 (http://archive.fairvote.org/?page=526) that mandates single-member districts for the House and replace it with one that mandates multi-seat, districts elected by proportional representation.
  
• Enact elections by proportional representation from multi-seat districts on federal and state levels, with enough seats in each districts to eliminate the possibility of unfair representation produced by gerrymandering, because in such multi-seat districts, even small political minorities do not waste their votes and are able to elect their fair share of representatives.
  
  Until such proportional representation elections are enacted and even after they are, to guard against gerrymandering, establish independent and transparent non-partisan citizen-redistricting processes in every state, to determine the boundaries for whatever districts that are employed (winner-take-all or proportional).
  
  Enact federal legislation requiring that Congressional districts be determined by state-established independent citizen-redistricting commissions.
  
  Provide federal funding for these state processes, with the goal of establishing national consistency in procedures.
  
• Abolish the US Senate by constitutional amendment.
  
  Until the U.S. Senate is abolished, enact state laws requiring that all state U.S. Senate seats are elected by ranked-choice voting.
  
  Amend the U.S. Constitution to require that all vacancies in the U.S. Senate be filled by ranked-choice voting special election, rather than appointment.
  
• Abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct national election of the president by Ranked Choice Voting.
  
  As a step in that direction, support National Popular Vote legislation which would guarantee the Presidency to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia), which would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes -— that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538).
  
• Create a new publicly-funded People's Commission on Presidential Debates, and open its presidential and vice-presidential debates to all candidates who appear on at least as many ballots as would represent a majority of the Electoral College and who raise enough funds to otherwise qualify for general election public financing.
  
  Any candidate who refuses to participate in such debates would lose general election public financing for their candidacy.
  
  Amend federal law to remove the non-profit tax exemption status that allows corporations to fund the existing Commission on Presidential Debates and other such exclusive privately controlled debate entities.
  
• Reinstate public funding of presidential conventions, and establish the percentage of the presidential popular vote required for a new party to receive public presidential convention funding at 1% for its candidate in the previous general election.
  
• Include the option to vote for a binding None of the Above (NOTA) on all party primary and general election ballots.
  
  If NOTA receives the most votes in a single-seat, winner-take-all primary election, no candidate from that contest advances to the general election.
  
  If NOTA receives the most votes in a single-seat, winner-take-all general election, no candidate is elected and a new election must be held.
  
• Support the right to initiative, referendum and recall at all levels of government.
  
  Enact signature gathering standards that empower volunteer collection efforts and financial disclosure requirements that identify the sources of funding behind paid signature efforts.