My Voting Reform Plan

[Roadvirus]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

 

[Rexedgar]

That should all be ready for the 2096 Presidential election…………..
The algorithm should be written by HAL.


All kidding aside, the money in politics needs to be addressed/removed and the chances of that happening are bupkis, imo.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

There's no provision for mail in voting, Felon's fines are often well beyond their capability to repay, and your voter ID thing is strictly republican wet dream material.

I'm sure there's more, I just got tired of messing with it.

 

[SkyChief]

My only objections are with federal funding.

+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.

Each state can be responsible for their security of state voter rolls & overall voter data. They shouldn't lean on Federal for this stuff.

The rest seems reasonable.

 

[STUT]

As already mentioned, aside from mail in voting, as well as a wide range of acceptable IDs, I could wholeheartedly support that plan

 

[phoenix2020]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

I appreciate the effort and like a lot of this.

I would also like to see provisions for mail in voting - it is frankly silly in this century to have to stand in line to vote when I can buy a vehicle via an app and have it delivered to my driveway. I don’t mind some constraints e.g. must be tied to social security ID or driver’s license or passport info.

I also think that any bill that requires ID for vote should invest significant funds to help people get IDs… money for transportation, public education, and a solid window (2 years?) to get one. The ID process needs to sweat the details including provisions for the homeless, orphans, people who cannot read, the blind, handicapped, etc.

 

[Antiwar]

1. The unequal voting-power that results from the Electoral College must be abolished.

2. Republicans need to be tried for election fraud for perpetrating Interstate Crosscheck.

Forget your conservative reforms till after these two issues are fully addressed.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.

Fully support. However, I've looked into this a good bit and algorithms are as fallible as the people who make them. Not suggesting you believed it is a bullet proof solutions, but there can be issues with it. However, it can hardly be worse than what we have now lmao.

+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.

As long as they are free and distributed by the state at no cost to citizens, sounds good. Could even streamline voting if done well.

+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.

I'm actually against electronic voting. Mail in is much more secure. There really is no meaningful way to secure electronic voting at the level it needs to be.

+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).

Epic. 110% here for it.

+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.

Beautiful. This alone would be a massive positive change.

+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

Voter fraud is already a pretty high risk low reward crime, but sure.

+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.

Also epic. Very much needed.

+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.

Sounds good.

+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

I love this.

+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

I think we can go further than this, but I'm not against this change.

Overall, 99% of this seems common sense imo. Love these.

 

[Roadvirus]

My only objections are with federal funding.

+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.

Each state can be responsible for their security of state voter rolls & overall voter data. They shouldn't lean on Federal for this stuff.

The rest seems reasonable.

The problem with that is some states won't bother with securing the data and ensuring machine security integrity.

 

[LetsGoBrandon]

+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.

Abolishing gerrymandering would require a constitutional amendment both at the federal and state level

+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.

The "Real ID" program in progress will cover that.

+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

I don't believe in hardcore violent felons ever getting their voting rights back.

States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.

I don't believe in early voting other then by traditional absentee ballot.

 

[btthegreat]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

This is clearly a sincere, well thought out proposal.

1st bill - I know I could see myself voting for the first bill, but I am uncomfortable with 500,000.00 fines and five year penalties for most of the folk caught in breach of these provisions. If we see behavior that involves multiple ballots or machines, and some clear evidence of an intent to 'fake' or undermine a specific result, or create or join a conspiracy, those kinds of penalties might be appropriate, but they are way out of line for what normally constitutes a violation of voting laws.

2nd bill - the voter roll process seems too unwieldy and time consuming. Frankly we don't have enough 'bipartisan judges' and state Legislators to form your committees analyse or double check every name deletion on the voter rolls. Those judges actually have full dockets and a backlog and if those legislators are sitting in session, they are busy representing. If they are not in session, they normally have full time employment Usually these voter rolls and the hard copies of registration are maintained at the county level rather than the state level. I think this could be streamlined and made less labor intensive.
That language on felon's voting goes exactly the wrong direction for me. I can swallow the prison time ban, but once you start talking about those fines, and restitution etc, you might as well just call it a life time ban and be honest about it. these amounts can easily be thousands and thousands , and we both know what kinds of wages an ex con can expect with their poor work history, lack of skills, etc. Even if they are diligent, those payments are going to have to be very small, and still afford rent, transportation, food, maybe back child support and current child support, or drug and alcohol counseling and testing copays etc.
3rd bill - I can't imagine a campaign finance bill I would not support. I will keep this simple, if you can get a campaign finance bill through Congress, get a President not to veto it, and SCOTUS to keep its paws off, I will dance at your wedding, no matter what it says!

Very good effort here. I like a lot more than I don't!

 

[tacomancer]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

I would strengthen campaign finance reform and give an answer to try and reverse citizens united, but this is a good opening.

 

[Mustachio]

My voting reform plan:

I have a plan that would fit with this, it should be tried in Florida I would propose:
-Every Democrat in Florida announces they will resign at the end of their term
-In every district, a candidate will be chosen on two issues - they will enforce the constitution and refuse to give DeSantis any power
-In every district, the candidate will have the Surname: Trump, Perot, Pence, Bush, or Reagan.
-Backchannels and telegram will be used to ensure candidates are authentic and the plan is not sabotaged
-The candidate will refuse to be interviewed or provide any platform, as the establishment wants them to participate in "the liberal establishment."

Clearly, there are details to work out, but the idea is simple. Felons will have their rights restored, meritocracy will be a thing of the past. Most current registered Republicans will already vote for the candidate named Trump/Perot/Pence/Bush/Reagan because any suggestion that there is some kind of conspiracy is fake news. Every informed citizen who opposes DeSantis will register as a Republican and vote for the candidate with the matching surname.

In 8 years, Florida will be entirely red and the most progressive state in the union

 

[tshade]

+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.

BAD

- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.

BAD

+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.

if done fairly, sure

+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.

not a problem now-----so only if needed

 

[redbeer]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

Yes, that's pretty good for starters.....voter ID is important. Secure voting machines are paramount. Early voting is good and needed. Limited mail in balloting, imo, more specifically for absentee ballots with some sort of ID verification. I can accept felons voting, once time served and fines paid, that's good. Foreign monies out of our elections is very, very much needed and is increased crimes for voting violations, for far too many have given their all to give us this right, imo.

 

[reflechissez]

There's no provision for mail in voting, Felon's fines are often well beyond their capability to repay, and your voter ID thing is strictly republican wet dream material.

I'm sure there's more, I just got tired of messing with it.

Noticed that. Wonder why.

 

[HIP56948]

My 2 cents. All precincts will have cameras in all areas, inside and out, including servers/computers and feed lines.
All poll workers will wear cameras ...perhaps like Police Officers..or smaller.
All poll workers will earn 100 dollars per day. You mess up something?..Get your ass out..now.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

1. The unequal voting-power that results from the Electoral College must be abolished.

2. Republicans need to be tried for election fraud for perpetrating Interstate Crosscheck.

Forget your conservative reforms till after these two issues are fully addressed.

Ya gotta love Kansas, home of the Great Failed State Experiment.

 

[Antiwar]

Ya gotta love Kansas, home of the Great Failed State Experiment.

That mother****er Kris Kobach should be in Leavenworth Penitentiary. He's how T**** stole the 2016 election.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

That mother****er Kris Kobach should be in Leavenworth Penitentiary.

And Bownback should be his cellmate.

 

[Antiwar]

And Bownback should be his cellmate.

I edited to add that Kobach is how T**** stole the 2016 election.

 

[ttwtt78640]

No. There was no definition of “politically neutral” given or any stated way to judge or calculate “political neutrality” based on census data (the only criteria given for use by this “computer algorithm”).

 

[molten_dragon]

It doesn't include voting by mail, so no, it's not a good plan.

 

[The Mark]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.

Any law requiring photo ID must also provide free and (if necessary due to time required) compensated access to acquiring that ID. If it costs money or time that any citizen would lose by going to get it, that needs to be compensated for to avoid dissuading people from getting the ID necessary to vote.

Yes, I am saying that it should include provisions to pay people to get a photo ID.

 

[Indydave]

My voting reform plan:

Any voting reform plan must be reduced to smaller, multiple bills & start with a bill that's more palatable for everyone.

1st bill:
+ Gerrymandering: States must use a politically neutral computer algorithm to design redistricting maps to ensure impartiality (algorithm would use official U.S. Census Bureau population data to draw redistricting maps), to be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature.
+ National Photo Voter ID law: Photo ID required to vote. ID must be State or Federal issued.
- Voting precinct workers MUST check photo ID to verify identity before handing a ballot to a voter.
+ Voting precincts must offer to voters the option of using paper ballots or electronic voting.
+ Add to Voting Rights Act of 1965: States must ensure minimum number of voting facilities in minority areas (number to be determined by population in affected voting districts).
+ A law requiring all employers of businesses regardless of size to allow workers adequate time to exercise their right to vote without fear of punishment.
+ Allocate $10 million to each state to strengthen security of state voter rolls & overall voter data.
+ Allocate $50 million for electronic voting machine security.
+ Increase Federal penalties for:
- Any kind of voter intimidation or fraud.
- Election official intimidation (includes precinct workers).
- Voting machine, ballot box or drop box tampering.
- Potential fines increased by $500,000 & potential jail time increased by 5 years.

2nd bill:
+ States required to have early voting start at least 15 days, including weekends, prior to Election Day.
+ Voter Roll Purges: State's voter roll purges to be overseen by bipartisan judge panel & must be approved by 2 representatives of each political party represented in a state's Legislature before being made official.
+ Restoration of felon voting rights
- Felons get voting rights restored when:
- Prison times fully served
- All fines paid in full
- Parole/probation ends

3rd bill:
+ Campaign Finance Reform
- Restrict U.S. companies with more then 10% foreign control/ownership from spending money in elections.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations by PACs.
- Increase penalties of FEC violations for campaign donation misuse by candidates.