Steps to improve future elections - mail your member of congress

[truhavoc]

Being a political science graduate I will take an opportunity to assert my treatise to improve the presidential election system with my limited expertise.

1.) All of the major network stations (publically owned) should grant all presidential candidates a set amount of time for campaign ads free of charge, all starting after the primary campaign season.

2.) All ads must be approved by the candidates, and all facts must be checked by an independent 5 person panel. These panel members should be be selected and agreed upon by all parties. If any ad is ruled to be false, the offending candidate will be required to use an equal amount of his limited advertisement time to issue an apology and set the record straight.

3.) Any candidate who can achieve a national polling percentage of above 10% before October must be allowed to participate in the presidential debates and should be awarded the same rights as the other major parties.

4.) All debates must be sponsored by an independent commission (league of women voters?) and would be required to happen for 90 minutes of each Thursday in November. Debates should be scored by independent judges, by a classic debate scoring system. All false remarks should result in points being deducted from the final tally, which should be broadcast approximately 10 minutes after the debate. Questions should be allowed between the candidates, and split screen shots should be allowed in all circumstances. A fair portrayal of the candidates must be maintained (no stands to equal height of anything of the like).

5.) 527's should be allowed to buy time on privately held cable stations, and would be required to abide by the same truth standards. All false statements would require the same time to be bought to issue a retraction.

6.) Due to the fact that the incumbent has a publically funded plane and staff, the challenger(s) should be awarded an equal share of staff and travel amenities. Public funds will be used to provide this.

7.) When covering the presidential campaign, all public stations must adhere to the fairness doctrine for the final two months of the campaign. And all news stations on cable stations must do the same as well.

8.) There should be a limit to the amount of funds that any candidate can raise. 527's should be held as part of this fund limit and are only useful to help buy additional advertising spots.

9.) From nemdaille - Saturday voting instead of the classic Tuesday voting that we currently live with.


Any additions (or retractions) that you can think of would be appreciated.

10.) Also I think, voter registration in all states up to November 1st. And all voters can vote at any polling location in their county. A computer database run by the state should maintain an up to date electronic record of a 9 digit security code, which can either be a SS# or a personal privacy selection.

[Cerridwen]

1. Saturday voting rather than Tuesday

Same day voter registration, i.e., register voting Saturday, vote voting Saturday.

[truhavoc]

2. I will ad these as we go

Also I think, voter registration in all states up to November 1st. And all voters can vote at any polling location in their county. A computer database run by the state should maintain an up to date electronic record of a 9 digit security code, which can either be a SS# or a personal privacy selection.

[Cerridwen]

3. Free public transportation to and from the polls the day of

the election.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Don't you mean debates every Thursday in October?

:-)

[lostnfound]

5. Instant Runoff Voting

Instead of 'winner take all' which forces us to constantly compromise, IRV lets every person count to the maximum extent possible -- if a person's 1st choice candidate doesn't win, their vote is given to their 2nd choice candidate.