iVote

Today, we have a guest post from DF. Well, the idea is his; I'm his ghostwriter.

By way of introduction, DF (my husband) is politically moderate. He's voted for candidates on both sides of the political spectrum. He's been pondering this idea for most of his life - it did not come about as a reaction to the latest election. And he enjoys playing complex strategy board games in his spare time, so this line of thinking is fun for him.

Without further ado, I present to you Das Fenster's plan to revolutionize American democracy and return the power to the people: iVote.

Preamble:
Our current system of government, a constitutional federal republic, has some issues. Because the people have no direct voice, our wishes are not heard, or they are drowned out by shadowy special interest groups. When our country was created, the founders set up the best system they could at the time. Now, with advances in communications and technology, it's time to reboot our system to better serve our needs in the 21st century and beyond. We need more transparency and less obfuscation.

In order to make these changes, we'll have to amend the constitution a few times.

Note that the below plan only applies to the federal government. Each state can still choose its own system whether it wants to retain a traditional legislative branch, start its own iVote, or something else.

Step 1 (this is the most difficult hurdle to cross):
Disband congress as we know it. Some legislators are retained to create/promote/oversee the new iVote system, and write legislation. They no longer represent a specific geographical area, however. The people will vote for their preferred political party (there will be several to choose from), and legislative positions will be apportioned according to the percentage of votes each party receives. In this way, it's sort of like a parliamentary system.

We'll still have a president who is elected directly by the people. The president retains all the powers enumerated in the constitution including overseeing the cabinet. S/he can veto laws that are passed by iVote. (The people can overrule a presidential veto with a 2/3 majority vote.)

Step 2:
Create an electronic voting system for all citizens called iVote

iVote will be highly secure, built to withstand all forms of cyber attack/hacking, and prevent voter fraud. To set up an initial account, you must prove your identity with some type of verifiable record, like a birth certificate or driver's license. The system will also check death records also to make sure the person registering is a real, living person. Each voter must sign in to the system using biometric data (fingerprint or eye scan) to prevent impersonation. As technology improves, so will the security measures. We might need to record the IP addresses of where votes are coming from to make sure we aren't being hacked by foreign entities.

At all stages of the process, accommodations will be provided for low-income people, those who are home-bound, or others who might not have access to official documentation and/or the internet. Possible solutions include community voting centers at libraries, in-person voter registration offices where staff can look up birth certificate information if you don't have an official copy, and officials who visit people in their homes or other locations. Citizens who are not proficient in English will also have materials available to them in their dominant language.

Step 3:
Citizens submit petitions online for laws they think should be implemented. All the other citizens can go on to read the proposals and click "like" for the ones they want to move forward. The system records when you "like" something so you can only vote once, but the site doesn't actually publish your name a la Facebook.

Once a petition has received a like from 25% of citizens, it proceeds to a judicial review committee to make sure it's constitutional. If it passes that check, it will be voted on.

Step 4:
Voting

Voting happens once a month, from the 1st through the last day. All the petitions from the previous month that met the 25% threshold and were deemed constitutional are open to be voted on.

Now this part is really exciting - people can be paid to vote! There's an option on the vote screen for "Yes," "No," and "Paid Vote." You can click over to see who's offering payment, how much, and for which vote. Only U.S. citizens, U.S. institutions, or U.S.-based corporations can pay for votes. This system will help increase voter turnout and provide more transparency in campaign finance. The income earned from voting is taxable, just like any other income.

Another major reform is that political advertising will be severely restricted. There will only be one platform for political news (TV/radio/satellite/internet), and this is the only place that PACs, political parties, and other entities can advertise. The content on this platform will be submitted by the petition writers, then verified by fact checkers before being published/broadcast. Each party will also be allowed space on this platform to put forth their official positions. As noted above, the party system can become much more robust under iVote - there will be a lot more options than just Republican/Democrat.

Step 5:
How petitions pass/fail

A minimum voter turnout of 50% is required for any initiative to be adopted. If turnout is below 50%, the status quo will be maintained.

Certain types of elections will require a higher turnout, such as constitutional amendments which would need at least 75% voter turnout.

We aren't quite sure how to pass a federal budget under this system. It would probably require a budget committee (or a new Department of the Budget) hashing out the numbers in advance with all the various federal departments and agencies. Then citizens can just vote yes or no for the whole thing, similar to the omnibus spending bill that congress approves now. When you're voting, you'll be able to see the previous budget, proposed new budget, and an explanation for any increase or decrease. A good thing with iVote is that even if we don't have 50% voter turnout or the budget bill doesn't pass, the government would not shut down. Everyone would keep operating at the previous fiscal year's budget level until a new budget can be approved. (Continuing resolution by default)

Additional Notes:
Accommodations will be made in the system for any citizens who will be away from a secure internet connection for an extended period of time (e.g. serving in the Peace Corps in a remote area), so that they can still vote in monthly elections if they desire.

The president can send out an "URGENT!" call for a vote within 24 hours on truly pressing matters, like an authorization to declare war. Everyone will get an alert via iVote, similar to how our phones buzz now with severe weather warnings.