Voter Turnout

[Benton]

(03-01-2016, 05:30 PM)fredtoast Wrote: This x 1000.  But the two big parties have a stranglehold on the system and there will be no viable third parties until the rules are changed.

1.  Publicly funded elections would help alternate parties because they would have the same resources as the big two.  There would have to be some minimal level of support to keep the crazies off the ballot, but we could still have a wide range of choices for each position.

2.  Having more Representatives run "at-large" and letting more than the first place finisher in.  For example each State would have at least 3 at-large representatives.  There would be an election with a lot of different candidates and the top 3 finishers go to congress.  I think this would do a lot for voter turnout because too many people don't vote because they live in a district where they already know which party is gong to win.

3.  Even if no third party ever controls a major portion of Congress it might make it possible for these small parties supply a crucial "swing vote" that could get Congress working again.  Right now it is frozen in partisan gridlock.  And I am not saying that "more laws" is always a good thing.  I am just saying that this country has some serious issues that need to be addressed and our federal government is failing us all.

The numbers may be off a few million or a couple percent, but we have somewhere around 65% of eligible voters who don't. Somewhere around 90 million people. It's absurd to think 90 million people — or even more if you lump in everyone who voted for one of the two parties — are going to be well represented by one of two people. Put 45 million people in a room with that one candidate (figuratively speaking) and he's not going to be able to identify half their concerns.

But, spot on with the third point, I think that's one of the major reasons congress isn't working right now. That was part of the reason the GOP was so upset about the small block of Tea Party candidates a few years ago. They need those seats to do or not do anything. They aren't worried about fixing anything, just having enough seats to keep manipulating the system and stay in office.