Democracy Now! -- Clean It, Fix It, Build It.

Democracy Now! -- Clean It, Fix It, Build It.

Demands of the coalition of organizations in favor of abolishing the Electoral College:

When it comes to ways in which our political system is rigged, the Electoral College represents only the tip of the iceberg. True democracy, the rights of individuals to collectively determine their future, seems in more jeopardy than ever before. The legalized bribery that constitutes our campaign finance system, the disenfranchisement of ex-felons in many states, the institutional obstacles facing third parties, the unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles placed before voters, and the partisan control of institutions that determine electoral rules together weaken the spirit of our democracy.

The changes needed to remedy these ills are well known. Clean money elections, voting rights for ex-felons, open debates, truly non-partisan and independent electoral commissions, and new voter registration systems would go a long way toward enlivening our democracy. In the past, reactionary forces have been able to hold off these commonsense reforms. But now the controversy surrounding the presidential election and the heightened attention on our electoral systems offer a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ignite new debates about our democracy.

We call for:

Abolition of the Electoral College and its replacement with a majority rule system. The president should be elected by direct, popular vote and must receive a majority of the votes to take office. If no candidate receives 50 percent-plus one of the votes cast, a runoff election must be held. A system called Instant Runoff Voting, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, will streamline the process and help guard against the "spoiler" factor.

Clean money elections. A ban on "soft-money" contributions is needed immediately. The next step after that is to establish public financing of elections. Candidates must be given the choice of receiving public funds to run their campaigns. Clean election laws like those in Maine, Massachusetts and Arizona should be expanded to other states and taken to the federal level.

Voting rights for former prisoners. Nine states in the US ban ex-felons from voting for life. Nationally, these restrictions affect approximately 4.2 million American citizens. Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system means that African-Americans, who are incarcerated at a disproportionately high rate, are particularly affected. About 7 percent of African-Americans are barred from voting because of felony convictions, compared with 2.1 percent of the general population. In Florida, 31 percent of African-American men are barred from voting. These lifetime voting prohibition laws violate citizens’ constitutional voting rights and must be repealed.

Open up the electoral system to minor parties. In the US’s two party system third parties face a host of institutional barriers, from getting on the ballot to broadcasting their views. This is unfortunate, for minor parties help enliven the political debate that is at the heart of any healthy democracy. Several reforms would give new political space to minor parties. Debates should be more open and not controlled by the two major parties. All candidates should receive free air time. Proportional representation voting should be considered as a way to ensure that individuals’ votes reflect their values.

Create independent and non-partisan electoral commissions. As the controversy in Florida has demonstrated, the partisan control of electoral institutions can, in a time of crisis, cast a cloud of illegitimacy across what should be the simple act of vote counting. Electoral commissions at all level of government should be truly non-partisan. Many countries, including neighboring Canada and Mexico, already have such bodies. We need to move to emulate those kinds of truly impartial systems.

Make voting easier. Many citizens are discouraged from voting by unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. Although most people don’t get excited about politics until a few weeks before an election, in 44 states it is already too late to register to vote by then. Citizens should be able to register to vote on voting day itself.