What Is Wrong With America’s Election System
Last weekend I took a trip to Kentucky and it reminded me of the following joke. After my GPS crashed and I had no map in my new car I felt like I was living the joke. I finally had to stop at a small country post office and ask directions, he printed them up for me which was nice, but they didn’t say how far the turns were apart and an hour and a half later I made it the fifteen miles and arrived at my destination. Best thing I can say about it was that it was a pretty drive through Kentucky horse country. There were many very beautiful homes along the way.
Years ago I heard this joke that I think applies to the problems facing America today. It goes something like this. “A traveling salesman was driving the back roads of Kentucky and found himself lost. After awhile he saw an old man sitting on his front porch swing and whittling. So he pulled over to get directions. He asked the old man if he knew how to get where he was going. The old man said “Yes”, with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. The salesman said, “Well can you tell me how to get there?” The old man started giving him directions and the salesman said “Thank You” got in his car and took off. After about an hour and a half he was starting to believe the old man had sent him on a wild goose chase. Suddenly he came back to the house where he started. Totally frustrated he got out of his car and told the old man,”I thought you said you could tell how to get where I was going.” The old man said “I can” The salesman said, “I am not so sure about that, if you did, why am I back here?” The old man smiled and said, “I can give you the directions, but first I had to make sure you could follow them.
That is kind of like America. We know where we came from, and where we want to go but aren’t sure how to get there. Our problem is we have too many slick old people in charge, of our country. They haven’t a clue how to get to where we want to go, but they have learned how to line their pockets with our dollars. Forty-one of our Senators have been in the Senate for over twelve years, one has been there thirty five years and one has been there forty-five years. They have not fixed our problems, they have just learned to milk the cow and enjoy the ride.
It is time to fix the problem, and the only way I think it can be done is to start a third party that is for America and its people. The present system has a lot of problems. I know that people are put in place by seniority and that it helps provide order. However it can frustrate new comers who are motivated. They get frustrated waiting their turn.
The present election is a perfect example of the problem. Voting and making sure your vote is counted is a challenge. Certain elements in the process are trying to suppress the votes of many. Congressman John Lewis fought his whole life to make sure everybody got to vote. In the Constitution Article 1, Section 4 it makes clear that it is Congress duty to make the rules concerning elections.
As the government sponsors the education system in the United States it would seem logical to use that system to provide equitable opportunity to all Americans to vote. There are 130,930 K-12 schools in the United States, and there are 260,000,000 eligible voters in the United States according to the census. That means if every school provided a polling place, there would be 1985 voters in each school system. Allowing for a twelve hour voting day, it would require voters to vote at the rate of 165 per hour. If they have at least three voting booths it would require 55 voters per booth per hour. Proof there is no reason for people standing in lines for hours on end. The problem is Congress would have to implement it. If each school had a polling manager they could be in charge of making sure all voters are properly registered and that no one is denied their right to vote. Each school should have a six person nonpartisan board with one person elected from among them to serve as the administrator for a term of two years. The six members should be equally divided between the parties.
The next thing that needs fixed is the rules concerning appointment of Supreme Court Justices, which has been an issue in the last two elections. The Congress can solve this simply by making sure there is one justice for each regional district and make one extra to ensure any special needs can be addressed. All judges should be required to retire from the court with a pension at the age of seventy five.
Another thing that needs to be addressed is the Electoral College. It needs to be eliminated. It does not allow the will of the people to be respected. The main purpose it serves is to allow the politicians to appoint the person they want to the presidency. At a minimum the system needs to be altered. The present system does not represent the will of the voters. Instead of one party takes all the votes, it should be proportional. to the vote in the state sending the delegates, and reflect the vote balance in that state. Only Maine and Nebraska use that system presently.
Finally there is the issue of term limits. Right now America is being held hostage to the will of one Senator from Kentucky who has been in the Congress for thirty five years. He is a Republican, but the longest serving is a Democrat from Maine who has been in the Congress for forty-five years. There are 41 Senators who have served in excess of 12 years or two terms in office. Sixteen are Republicans and the balance are Democrats.
At present the system allows eight Senators, from four states, NY, CA, TX and FL, to represent the will of 34 % of the population of the United States. It also allows one Senator, who represents a state that is only one and one third percent of the population to hold the whole nation hostage to his personal will. That is absolutely wrong and is certainly not what the Founding Fathers intended.
Under Mitch McConnell the Republicans have done nothing since 2008 when President Obama was elected, but try to prevent or undo anything that Obama or the Democrats have tried to do. That is not what the system was designed to do. The really sad part is the present President has not only encouraged this but done virtually nothing to correct the problem. His major accomplishment is having fired a lot of civil service workers who had dedicated their lives to serving our country. Of course firing people was his greatest skill on his reality TV show the Apprentice.
Trump was elected because he was not really a politician, Most Americans wanted change and one thing is for sure they definitely got change. It was not the change many of them wanted, but that will issue will be resolved one week from today. I have heard a lot of people say based on placards that Trump will get reelected. Based on that philosophy, Obama should never been elected. The picture below is from in front of my local polling place on election day 2008. Is there something missing in the picture. I am sure where I live is not the only place it happened.
A while back I created my own political party called CARP. The Party Platform is on my other blog and can be reached by following the link enclosed. https://carpforamerica.blogspot.com/2020/07/carp.html It addresses how to fix many of the problems that Congress has failed to do. If you follow me, you will get updates as I address them. I have what I consider a solution to the gun problem on my post and a lot of other stuff that is from a different or third party point of view.
