Alternatives
To Make Primary Elections
More Democratic
Suggestions
For America's Major Political Parties
The
primary election process in the United States is neither fair,
nor democratic. In the Presidential primaries, every state has
a different method for selecting delegates, so that a person's
vote may matter more or less depending on what state they are
in. In state and local elections, problems vary depending on
the city. In Baltimore in 2011, when factoring in the percentage
of people that didn't register, the number of people that didn't
vote, the number of candidates, and the percentage of votes
the winner received, about 5% of the population decided our
fate for the next five years.The process needs to be standardized,
or at least become more standardized for the entire country,
and probably should be the same for both major parties.
No
Superdelegates, No Winner Take All States
Convention
delegates should be proportionate to the number of votes each
candidate gets. There is no reason a person's vote should be
worth more or less depending on what state they are in. The
number of delegates a state gets at a convention also should
not be predetermined. The final breakdown of delegates should
be determined based on how many people in a particular state
vote.
Once
the voters have spoken, there should not be an opportunity for
the party to undermine the will of voters by selecting superdelegates
that can vote for whoever they want. Disenfranchising voters
is not the way to win support for a party in the general election.
The
concept of winner take all states thwarts democracy in another
way. Just like in the general election, a candidate could get
more votes, but if they don't win the right states, they may
not win the nomination.
Use
Delegates To Prioritize Primary Voting
As
a weaker substitute for a prioritized voting system, presidential
candidates in the primary could be given careful control in
the selection of their delegates. In the convention balloting
process, if no one has a clear majority, the candidate with
the fewest delegates in the voting process should be eliminated,
and the delegates would have to choose from the remaining candidates
in the next ballot. The process would be repeated until the
delegates choose from the final two to determine the nominee.
No
Pressure To Drop Out
This
means no candidate should have to drop out unless they truly
want to. Everyone should have the right to vote for the candidate
they want, through the entire primary process. Candidates should
have the right to let everyone voice their opinion. If a candidate
runs out of money, they can stay on the ballot and just not
campaign in every state. So in this scenario, candidates that
would lose a one-on-one race with numerous other candidates
don't become the nominee because the opposition is divided between
numerous other candidates. This would also give candidates more
influence over who the nominee is.
We
need a major overhaul of the election system in this
country. We need campaign finance reform that includes overturning
the Citizens United decision. And we need to get rid of the
Electoral College.
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