How We Can Survive Without A Two Party System

This post was originally written on 1/5/2012

Once you take away the political parties, you are left with trying to decide how to fund elections and support candidates.  Again, this one actually isn't that hard to manage when you consider the fact that it's ridiculous for politicians to be spending two years and millions of dollars campaigning to get a job that pays a couple hundred grand a year.  There is nothing wrong with citizens volunteering their time to help promote a candidate whose views they believe in.
         Start at the local level and anyone who can convince a set percentage of the voting public to endorse their petition to get on the ballot may do so.  Then that person moves on to the state level, and must convince a percentage of that voting public to support their moving on to a national level when appropriate.  Prior to having their candidacy accepted at even the local level, each candidate must clearly and concisely express their views in writing, in a form that is easily and inexpensively able to be disseminated to anyone who wishes to know.  If during the course of their campaign their views change, they need to clarify that in writing and explain that their stance has changed.
        Once candidates have managed to gain enough support, through the efforts of themselves and their volunteer supporters, to move into the arena in which their election will be decided, funds collected by the appropriate government in the form of taxes and donations to support their election should be dispersed equally among each of the qualifying candidates, starting with half of the sum total of monies held in the fund. This money may be used to cover the expenses incurred by the candidate in order to campaign in the area from which they are trying to draw votes.  These monies cannot be used for the expenses of anyone other than the candidate.  Staff, spouses, anyone else who wishes to accompany the candidate must do so on  a voluntary basis and on their own dime.  Any candidate who cannot manage to drum up enough support among those closest to them to earn their loyalty and assistance with their campaign without recompense probably isn't someone who is going to inspire the public at large to vote for them either.
        With regard to television ads, print ads, etc. each candidate will be given equal time on public television in which to explain their views in whatever way they see fit.  All information regarding the candidate must be delivered directly by the candidates themselves, rather than by political action committees in the form of support or attack ads.  Candidates may no longer accept or request public donations from supporters to pay for their campaigns, nor may they hand out crap like bumper stickers, pencils, fans, etc.  Businesses are allowed and encouraged to create and sell such items to the public should they wish, but none of the proceeds from these sales may be given to the candidate in furtherance of their campaign.
        Debates should continue to exist, and should be open to all qualifying candidates, with each candidate being asked and allowed to answer every question put forth.  Questions for individual candidates should be sent to their campaign headquarters and responded to by the candidate in a newsletter or something that is disseminated to the public at regular intervals.  Whether these debates are corporately sponsored, or how they are made public is immaterial.  As long as they are open to all candidates and each candidate is allowed to participate equally.
        Primary elections may still be used to narrow the field of candidates in national elections, and each state may continue to set their own rules for primary elections as long as they conform to the following guidelines- 1) Each state primary must occur at the same time, so as not to grant any state's primary more weight than any other.  2) All qualified candidates must be included in the same primary.  3) The primary must be open to all qualified voters.  4) Ample time must be given during which voters may cast their primary ballot, allowing voters a reasonable window of time in which to cast their ballot without requiring them to drop everything in order to do so (i.e. a 24 hour time period in which to cast one's ballot vs you must be here between 10 and 11 am on the fourth Sunday of March, and oh yeah, that happens to fall on Easter this year)  5.) Undue hardship may not be imposed upon the voting public in the form of unreasonable distance between polling locations or voting requirements (i.e. no setting up one primary voting location for every 5 counties or requiring every voter to show 3 forms of ID, one being a major credit card.
         Should a candidate choose to drop out of the race, whether it be following a poor result in primary elections, or at any time for any reason, all campaign monies still unspent by them at that time on legitimate campaign expenses (yep, they do have to keep receipts and justify those expenditures) must be returned to the fund to be distributed among the remaining candidates.  Monies returned by candidates leaving the race prior to the primaries may be dispersed among the remaining candidates in equal shares as they are received.  Following a week after any primary elections, during which time each candidate can take a breather and reconsider their candidacy, the remaining half of the public election funds will be distributed to the campaigns of those candidates remaining in the race.  The same rules will apply regarding the expenditure of those monies.
        Come election day, a system of voting that is standardized for every voter eligible to vote in the particular election will take place.  States may still choose their own system of voting, but in the case of national elections, a uniform method of recording votes must be used.  This may lead to voters casting a paper vote for state elections and an electronic vote via touch screen for national elections- don't worry it'll be okay.  We are a species that has adapted to microwave ovens and flat screen TV's, we can adapt to a slightly different method of saying "I like that guy"
        Elections will be decided by popular vote, in the interest of choosing our candidates in a manner that represents the majority of the people who have voted.  In regards to local and state elections, the needs and wishes of each citizen of the town, county or state must be considered.  In regards to national elections, we are all citizens of one nation, and not just a collection of states.  Should an decision only have repercussions or benefits for the citizens of a particular state, it is not a decision that should be made by a national government anyways.
        Following each election, a period of three weeks will be taken in which to count every vote and settle any disputes regarding those votes.  No winner will be declared until the end of that period.  Sorry cable news networks, you can put away your maps and find something else for your pundits to do besides declare the election won before Alaska's polls have even closed.
        For my next submission, I intend to address what I personally think the role of our national government should be.  But first I need a short break.  Thank you for reading thus far, and I hope you will return for more, even if it's just to see how much more I can piss you off.