Democrats in the House will arrange that the first bill introduced in January will be HR 1, to change federal election laws. The bill will include public funding for congressional candidates; stop partisan gerrymandering; and provide for automatic voter registration. See this story.
Fat chance of it becoming law in the upcoming Congress. Republicans will still have control of the Senate (increasing their majority by two seats in fact) and I think President Trump will veto such legislation.
One more RED communist scheme to subvert the 1 Amdt — which has NO dollar amount in it.
One more RED communist scheme to subvert the USA Const to have have *permanent* RED communist gerrymander minority rule CONTROL of the USA H Reps.
Thus- 3 Jan 2019 = *official* start of Civil W-A-R II ???
— after unofficial starts on 2016 and 2018 Election Days.
—-
PR and AppV
I like it in theory, as long as those public funds go to all candidates, and not just the Democratic and Republican ones. I’m surprised there’s not some Russia-baiting in there as well, that tends to be the only election issue Democrats cared to talk about for the longest time.
Top 2 should be implemented for Congress. Qualification should be based on 0.1% of previous senatorial vote in district or state. This is around 200 to 300 persons for US representatives. Supporters will gather at local offices to be counted.
There would be separate federal election days. Paper ballots in English will be used, and hand counted in the polling place after the end of voting. Voting instructions in a babel of languages will be provided.
Presidential elections may be held on these days if they are Top 2 by congressional or electoral districts.
Public funding will be limited to appearance money at public debates, 3 for congressional elections, and one per congressional district for senatorial elections (3 minimum). Up to five candidates per debate session, more sessions scheduled if necessary to accommodate all candidates.
Federal IDs issued to all citizens and residents. When an address is updated state officials will be informed, simplifying automatic voter registration. There is no need for an opt out. If a citizen does not want to vore, they don’t have to vote. The state may use the information for tax and licensing purposes. ID would also be used for employment purposes.
Operate federal voting centers in embassies, consulates, military bases, and other concentrations. Ballot images will be transferred to state election officials. Federal voting centers will also be available in the United States for citizens temporarily away from their residence.
Congressional districts would be based on citizen voting age population. Districts may be redrawn to reflect changes in population between censuses (see Australia). Use of race and political results will be outlawed. Districts will be drawn to objective standards that recognize political subdivisions and metropolitan areas, and reasonable equality standards. Initial maps will be drawn by federal commission. Actual mapdrawers will be quarantined when drawing maps. Citizens may submit alternative maps. If they meet objective standards, a plebiscite mechanism will be used to determine which is used. Note because of later filing date, review of maps need not be so compressed.
Federal income tax would be eliminated, thus eliminating need for release of tax returns for senators and representatives.
@JMIV,
There is a proposed requirement for Facebook and Twitter to disclose source of their ads.
Is JR helping the RED Donkeys to write 2019 H.R. 1 in the USA minority rule gerrymander H Reps. ???
The article says that the proposal would “end partisan gerrymandering” but provides no specifics about how that would be accomplished>
Notice how the Democrats steered clear of electoral reforms such as Ranked Choice Voting and Proportional Representation, inclusive debates, and fair ballot access laws. As always, the Dems are all about incremental reform in their attempts to play nice with the Republicans and preserve their precious two-party system. The one major reform on this bill, the public financing of elections, would probably end up being for D’s and R’s only.
Joshua, we are safe from the bill discriminating (on public funding) because Bernie Sanders and Senator Angus King just got re-elected as independent candidates. Congress is not going to pass a bill that discriminates against them.