Highlights of the current U.S. electoral process include attack ads, the concentration of political parties on campaigns in states where they believe they have more electoral influence, and the dizzying amount of money poured into campaigns. Includes such amounts. But Americans are burnt out and fed up with the way things are. An overwhelming majority of people view our electoral process and political system negatively. A 2023 Pew Research survey found that when asked to identify the strengths of the United States;.S. Regarding the political system, one-third of respondents did not answer, and a further 22% answered that there is no political system. Strengths.
The list of problems with the current system is long.Our political parties encourage and reward Split And polarization. extremism He will be pushed to the forefront over more moderate candidates who encourage compromise. Delegates do not accurately represent the country they represent.
It is clear that the US electoral system needs to be overhauled. This may seem like a monumental task, but it is not impossible. Elections have changed a lot over the years and may change again. Here's how to fix the election game.
shorten the election period
An overwhelming 72% of Americans think the recent presidential election lasted too long. length.in the US.S.Presidential campaigns can last almost two years. for example, Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election in November 2022, two full years before the election. Fellow Republican candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley announced their candidacies in February. 2023. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Protracted election seasons in the United States did not begin until the 1970s, when Jimmy Carter announced his candidacy for the 1976 election. December 1974. Other countries, such as Canada and France, are able to elect their leaders in a shorter period of time. time.
A recent Emerson College poll shows Mike Brown leading the Republican gubernatorial primary.
So how do other countries manage such short election periods? Many regions have laws that limit the length of elections. For example, Mexico, like the United States, has a presidential system..S. In 2007, it passed a law that limited the general election period to 90 days, with an additional 60 days for party nominations. process.
Restricting funding will also help achieve this, as it will take millions of dollars to sustain a campaign to do so. length. Restricting the flow of money to campaigns would make it much less likely that candidates would be able to finance their current two-year campaigns. They would be forced to start campaigning later, and Americans would be spared the hard work of listening to the candidates argue for years. Our government will also benefit. Incumbents can spend less time campaigning and more time governing, which is, after all, their purpose.
drive campaign spending
of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court Companies declared by the judgment count as individuals under the U..S. Therefore, they can spend unlimited amounts on elections. The decision opened the door to greater political spending from outside groups, contributing to the injection of even more money into elections.
Super PAC A large organization that supports candidates' campaigns.Officially, they are not affiliated with a formal campaign committee, However, they are often very closely related. Through super PACs, wealthy donors and corporations have significant power over elections. Additionally, these large organizations increase the potential for corruption in the electoral process. “Loan money” (funds whose donors cannot be traced) are common, reducing transparency.
Implement ranked choice voting
RAnchored Choice Voting (RCV) allows voters to rank candidates based on their preferences rather than choosing just one. In the RCV system, a candidate must receive a majority of votes to win, And it achieves this by “instantaneous spills”.In this system I haveIf no candidate receives an overall majority, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated. Those votes go to whoever the voter ranked her second or third place.This process continues until one candidate receives a majority Vote.
President Biden has been unable to convince young progressive voters of his merits.
RCV can lead to the election of candidates with broader support. RCV encourages campaigns that reach a wider audience and tries to find political compromises. It also encourages voters to ignore political parties. All candidates on the ballot can be ranked, so voters can also consider voting for third-party or independent candidates. Many people now avoid voting for third parties because they believe their vote will be “wasted.” Moreover, many third-party candidates are deterred from running in the first place because they are thought to siphon votes from one of the two major parties. Ranked-choice voting, however, eliminates this hassle and allows voters to choose who they really want to be president without worrying about “wasting” their campaign funds. Vote.
abolition of the electoral system in favor of Popularity vote
In the electoral college, countless problems: Faithless electors, underrepresented in certain states and underrepresented in others. For many years electoral college, a system in which Americans vote for electors and those electors vote for president, has been touted as a potential solution to these problems. In fact, 65% of Americans support changing the way the president is elected so that the winner of the popular vote wins the presidency. Presidency. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to support abolishing the electoral college, but even Republican support is at an all-time high of 47%.
The shift to a popular vote will force candidates to adjust their strategies. Rather than ignoring some states because they reliably fall on one party or the other, every individual vote counts.
Inevitably, there are various arguments both for and against each of these potential reforms. And certainly, there are legitimate concerns about each of these reforms that need to be discussed and thought through before making changes. But my hope in writing this article is to get people thinking about the possibilities. The US election process is cumbersome and confusing, but it doesn't have to be that way. We need to use our imagination to push beyond the limits of current processes and consider alternatives.
Samantha Camille (girlfriend) is a freshman studying journalism with a minor in Spanish.
