Category: #OSE Open Source Everything

Clever, this is!

How to build a better ballot: Count the no votes, see which politician gets the least

By Vic Berardelli, Special to the Bangor (Maine) Daily News

The only effective ballot reform is one that puts politicians in their place. The current crop of proposed citizen initiatives tampers with the voting process but keeps political egos inflated. The time has come to enact the negative ballot.

Petitions are circulating in an attempt to get a referendum that would have the voters select office holders on a rank-and-reallocate basis.

Basically, one would vote for the candidate of choice but be asked to mark a second choice among the other candidates. In theory, if no candidate wins a clear majority (50 percent plus one) then the lowest candidate is eliminated and the second choice votes under that candidate are allocated to produce a majority vote winner.

Continue reading “Yoda: Electoral Reform — See the NO Votes!”

Voting Rights Have Been Under Attack; But Not How You Think

Our American election system is broken in no small part thanks to the primary election system. The Republican and Democratic parties have worked hand-in-hand for over a century to make ‘their’ party primaries the centerpiece of the entire electoral process.

In an age where 43 percent of Americans consider themselves politically independent of the two major parties, the twisted state-sanctioned closed primary election process prevalent in the majority of U.S. elections frequently leads to election results that are patently warped.

Read full article.

The transformation of American democracy to an open oligarchy is really quite amazing; I wonder how the Founders would feel about this development. A handful of uber-rich White men, led by the Koch brothers basically have bought the Republican Party, anointing the candidates they want in office. I wonder if those who register as Republicans fully comprehend what has happened. Just to be clear. The Democratic Party is also complicit in the sale of democracy to the ultra-rich. My general take away from all of this is: This is what happens when most of the citizens in the country don't vote. We have no one to blame but ourselves and I, for one, have had enough.

Kochs' acquisition of the Republican Party nearly complete

The Richest 0.01 Percent of Americans Gave 42 Percent of Political Donations in 2012

It should come as no surprise that policymakers look after the ultra-wealthy instead of the rest of us.

By Stephen Wolf / DailyKos

EXTRACT

Candidates devote 80 percent of their time to begging rich people for money. Any extremist Republican can get a billionaire sugar daddy. The world's eighth richest man can summon the entire Republican primary field to kiss his ring. Millionaires are now complaining about being ignored in favor of billionaires. The average member of Congress is a millionaire.

Continue reading “Mongoose: 0.01% Own US Government — But 99% Could Easily Out-Spend, Not Just Out-Vote That Plutocratic Minority…”

Good, this is.

Mechanism and structure of voting process should be open for revision

Opposition is something that should be encouraged, whatever party sits in power. Electoral reform could also help turn the tides against voter apathy.

Continue reading “Yoda: Canada Thinks About Electoral Reform”