U.S. Electoral College

I'm done with it... have been for quite some time. Depending on what state you live in your vote means nothing.

We (the country) should have a President elected by the people, not politicians.

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ninalanyon · 61-69, T

Even without the electoral college you would still have the problem that your president will almost always be elected by a minority of those eligible to vote. So you will still be at the mercy of the donors who can finance the most convincing campaign. You need a much wider ranging reform before the results would really reflect the will of the people.

It would be a good start though!

Ontheroad · M

@ninalanyon yep, starting with PACs... as in abolishing them. Then, and I've long thought this, all newspapers, television stations, and any/every news outlet should be required to give (free of charge) X number of hours to each federal-level candidate.

Money or the lack of/too much of should have zero to do with who gets elected.

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Ontheroad And campaigns should be short. Politicians should spend the greater part of their time governing not campaigning for reelection. I think one month of campaigning should be enough backed by disqualification for breaking the rules.

And of course lobbying should be forbidden.

jackjjackson · M

Brilliant. That’s a case of common sense prevailing. Sadly real life doesn’t work that way 😳 @ninalanyon

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@jackjjackson It can do though. For instance, general election campaigns for MPs in the British parliament are limited both in time and money. See https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/election-spending-regulated-uk

Also:

The length of campaigns

The third major difference is the time devoted to campaigns.

In the UK, elections are far shorter than the US. The last US presidential campaign lasted nearly 600 days—roughly speaking, forever—as measured from when the first candidate, Ted Cruz, announced his run. The official campaign period in the UK is 25 working days, or roughly five weeks.

https://qz.com/1743234/the-three-main-differences-between-us-and-uk-elections

badminton · 61-69, MVIP

@ninalanyon This why we urgently need campaign finance reform laws. "Campaign donations' are just another word for bribery. Our representatives are supposed to serve US, the people. NOT deep-pockets corporations out to buy our politicians.

jackjjackson · M

That would be wonderful. A vast majority of Americans would support that. My guess is the politicians will screw us yet again. @ninalanyon

DDaverde · 61-69, M

@ninalanyon the electoral college
Has been written 200+ years ago to balance
The vote .it works fine ..
That’s just another thing that the Demi-rats want to eliminate so they can cheat again
Enough is enough!