Top Six Critical Election Fixes

A number of problems with elections need to be fixed. However, six stand out as critical. Elections would function very well and have airtight integrity if these top six problems were to be properly fixed.

Fixes Required to Enable Elections to Function Correctly

  1. Replace the plurality (or other) voting method with Approve/Approve/Disapprove Voting (AADV). Plurality is a main cause of the increasing polarization we suffer (Duverger’s Law). Plurality is so awful that it sometimes can even result in the election of a candidate that the majority of the voters themselves oppose.
  2. Completely eliminate gerrymandering. Use the guaranteed-to-be-impartial Precinct Preserving Splitline (PPS) geometric procedure to impartially draw all electoral districts. The simple five-step PPS procedure can be followed by either humans or computers and can draw any number of compact districts for any state. The decennial redistricting could be completed very inexpensively in less than an hour.
  3. Remove artificial and contrived hurdles to ballot access. There should be extremely few races with 0 or 1 candidate on the ballot. A few races should have as many as 6 or 7 choices.
    • Boil any complex political party classifications down to just one: Qualified Political party.  Any political party having at least 0.05% of statewide voter registration and having their rules on file with the state’s Secretary of State is a Qualified Political Party.  Qualified Political Parties are entitled to nominate candidates in accordance with their own procedures and entirely at their own expense.  (In most states, there would currently be four Qualified Parties: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, and Green).
    • Independents (candidates who are not affiliated with a Qualified Political Party) would need to collect a reasonable number of nominating signatures. The number should relate to the size of the district, but should never be less than 10 or more than 3,000 for a statewide race.  The time window for collecting those signatures should be ample.  All signatures would be validated by the county or state agency that receives them, not by private organizations or individuals.

Fixes Required to ensure Airtight Election Integrity

  1. All voters must vote in-person at their friendly neighborhood polling places (except up to 1% absentee ballots for good reason).  There is no other way that a fully secret ballot can be guaranteed!  Voters must not be able to prove to someone else how they voted (enables vote buying).
  2. Implement positive (photo) voter ID.  Signature validation cannot be relied upon.
  3. Automate elections securely with modern computer technology.  Elections should happen entirely on election day.  Full, complete, and final results should be available a half hour after the polls close, including tallies of all write-in votes.  (Such a system called Election Manager that utilizes voter-verifiable paper ballots is already available.  Results would be independently verifiable.)

For a thorough analysis of these and all election issues, see the book: Elections Are Broken — How to Fix Them.

There is much more to elections than meets the eye. The problems are not widely understood and are woefully underappreciated. The book is short and inexpensive. After reading it, please make an appointment to meet with the elected representative you think most likely to listen. Loan or leave the book with them if you think they will read it.