Electoral College and Term Limits discussion

[Diamondback 2/2]

A true democracy would destroy us as a nation. I agree a two thirds vote should be the standard for a "majority" but even then you fall to a popularity contest. We are a republic and that should never change.

As for the term limits, we need to take those idiots down a few notches. If it works for POTUS then it will work for the Congress and the Senate.

 

[Deleted member 2517]

Your percentage examples lead into another point as well. Barely a majority of the country even votes. I think it was like 58%-60% of eligible voters that voted.

IF we ever switched to a full democracy, I think we'd need to get those numbers above 90% for it to work.

I am not for forcing people to do things, but I am for incentivizing good behavior. Make Election Day a holiday and offer a tax refund if you have proof of voting. Something like that to try and get the voting numbers up.

 

[BlackSmokeRisinG]

The mathematics of "total votes" could be argued until the cows come home....
...But hey - everyone gets a vote even the ones that need to be told not to eat paint chips


View attachment 25859

Ah the old stupid map. The red is where the stu-pids live, and the blue is where the smarties congregate. Used to be a popular bumper sticker back in the early 2000's when dumb Bush won by electoral college.

Leave it up to Box to lay it down again....He might actually be an AI program.

 

[Cookie_]

I am not for forcing people to do things, but I am for incentivizing good behavior. Make Election Day a holiday and offer a tax refund if you have proof of voting. Something like that to try and get the voting numbers up.

Increasing availability/understanding of mail-in-ballots and making it the first weekend in November (Sat/Sun) would help a ton.

 

[digrar]

I am not for forcing people to do things, but I am for incentivizing good behavior. Make Election Day a holiday and offer a tax refund if you have proof of voting. Something like that to try and get the voting numbers up.

We have always voted on a Saturday and make voting prior to the actual day an easy process, either mailing or attending an early voting centre (with where I work out in the desert, I don't think I've voted on the day in 15 years).
Voting is compulsory, with a smallish fine for not participating. We managed about 91% turnout at the last federal election and about 5% of those were informal votes (defaced, donkey votes, left blank etc).
We have to supply our name and address and be physically marked off the roll, but don't have to present ID, which I personally feel is ridiculous.

 

[SpitfireV]

We have to present ID now but it can be any form. I'm not quite sure when this came about though, possibly just this election passed.

What would you guys think about an MMP style system? MMP Voting System

I'm all for term limits here too but the issue isn't as severe here as there.

 

[GOTWA]

I think it's ridiculous that we even have to have the discussion about incentivizing election participation. I honestly don't know what the next 2 years will bring. The next 10 worry me. What follows after that? I might find Jesus. I feel like it's just a sad state of affairs, really.

I know the internet wasn't around 'back then' (whatever the time period it didn't exist), but I'm curious if the old timers had these same/like discussions. You know, same stuff, just now it's more visible due to technology. If they did, I'll feel more comfortable about everything.

 

[Ranger Psych]

I don't think voting should have any further incentive introduced to it than making election day a national holiday. If you choose to abstain by presence when you have no other responsibilities, then your input (and voice, following election day) should be moot.

 

[SpitfireV]

I think you could given bypass the need for a national holiday if you made it on Saturdays.

 

[GOTWA]

Plenty of people still work the weekend. Would likely need to be a multi-day event if the goal is to achieve maximum participation. I think a lot of people have just given up on the process because they have a nihilistic view of politicians and the overall political atmosphere.

I use to go back and forth with @amlove21 and his hippy ways, but the further this shit drags on, the more I agree with him.

 

[SpitfireV]

Plenty of people still work the weekend.

But the majority do not and shift workers can find 15 minutes to go vote on a Saturday or Sunday than an office worker can during the week.

 

[Ranger Psych]

But the majority do not and shift workers can find 15 minutes to go vote on a Saturday or Sunday than an office worker can during the week.

Enough work on the weekend to make it a disservice for it not to be a national holiday, or if not a holiday, a civic duty day.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Idk why they can't figure out a way to do a secure online vote. Granted stupid problems involved with that, but it just seems dumb that we have to show up at some school or whatever, punch holes in paper ballets when I can buy a fucking car with the phone in my pocket.

I get the security issues and "who" is actually casting a vote. But really, it wouldn't be that hard to develop a government voting portal with a special 'voter login pin' you get when you register, and bam, all clowns have to do is log in, vote and be done. Nobody needs a day off, nobody needs a holiday or sticker that's says they voted, etc.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[digrar]

We work weekends too... 91% turnout last election.

It might have taken me 3 minutes to vote at the early voting centre in the state election a couple of months ago. No line, straight in, straight out.

 

[SpitfireV]

Idk why they can't figure out a way to do a secure online vote. Granted stupid problems involved with that, but it just seems dumb that we have to show up at some school or whatever, punch holes in paper ballets when I can buy a fucking car with the phone in my pocket.

I get the security issues and "who" is actually casting a vote. But really, it wouldn't be that hard to develop a government voting portal with a special 'voter login pin' you get when you register, and bam, all clowns have to do is log in, vote and be done. Nobody needs a day off, nobody needs a holiday or sticker that's says they voted, etc.

Just thinking out loud.

There was a study done on it here and it's very feasible but costly to implement. I think it's a good idea. We have a thing called RealMe which you can use to deal with government departments' online shit and for them to be sure it's you. You guys could probably tie it in with your social security number somehow. The big issue to me is voter anonymity but the data could be scrubbed of that between the point of contract and the electoral office. I dunno, smarter people than me have worked on it.

 

[Devildoc]

Idk why they can't figure out a way to do a secure online vote. Granted stupid problems involved with that, but it just seems dumb that we have to show up at some school or whatever, punch holes in paper ballets when I can buy a fucking car with the phone in my pocket.

I get the security issues and "who" is actually casting a vote. But really, it wouldn't be that hard to develop a government voting portal with a special 'voter login pin' you get when you register, and bam, all clowns have to do is log in, vote and be done. Nobody needs a day off, nobody needs a holiday or sticker that's says they voted, etc.

Just thinking out loud.

I can manage my tax returns online. Every citizen who can vote most likely has a SSN; if you can use your SSN to file and manage tax returns, you can do the same with online voting.

 

[GOTWA]

Idk why they can't figure out a way to do a secure online vote. Granted stupid problems involved with that, but it just seems dumb that we have to show up at some school or whatever, punch holes in paper ballets when I can buy a fucking car with the phone in my pocket.

I get the security issues and "who" is actually casting a vote. But really, it wouldn't be that hard to develop a government voting portal with a special 'voter login pin' you get when you register, and bam, all clowns have to do is log in, vote and be done. Nobody needs a day off, nobody needs a holiday or sticker that's says they voted, etc.

Just thinking out loud.

Woah, the outrage.

Anything is doable with money. I think the process would need to change entirely to make an electronic vote feasible. Biometrics could be implemented to make it a bit more secure but would require a finger print and scanner, which a lot of laptops have these days. Privacy concerns? I'm sure people would have loads of them, but they're probably the same people that submit their dna for ancestrial testing.

 

[Centermass]

Rep. Steve Cohen is an idiot.

Film at 11.

 

[Cookie_]

I wish the ability to vote online was possible, as we can do it with pretty much every aspect of government, in addition to physical locations.

I can't see it becoming feasible anytime soon though. Some on the Republican side of the aisle claimed that there were millions of illegal votes in the 2016 election, with the most commonly stated number being 3 million. I'm sure it's only a coincidence that 3 million is how many votes Clinton was over on the popular count. How would it be possible for the party that believes people are using fake IDs, names, and SS# in person at voting booths, wouldn't do the same online?

Democrats would be more likely to support these measures, but not if it were to make it harder to vote normally. Some already complain about the photo ID requirements; the need for a computer and biometrics would not appeal to them.

 

[Devildoc]

I wish the ability to vote online was possible, as we can do it with pretty much every aspect of government, in addition to physical locations.

I can't see it becoming feasible anytime soon though. Some on the Republican side of the aisle claimed that there were millions of illegal votes in the 2016 election, with the most commonly stated number being 3 million. I'm sure it's only a coincidence that 3 million is how many votes Clinton was over on the popular count. How would it be possible for the party that believes people are using fake IDs, names, and SS# in person at voting booths, wouldn't do the same online?

Democrats would be more likely to support these measures, but not if it were to make it harder to vote normally. Some already complain about the photo ID requirements; the need for a computer and biometrics would not appeal to them.

There is a way to do it, a way to do it securely and one which protects privacy. You don't need a SSN to vote at the polls, all you need is a name and address. Online you can set up a hard stop if the name and SSN do not match, or any number of factors. I do believe the democrats will complain that it further disenfranchises voters if they don't have access (phone, computer, etc.). I do believe their whole issue of a picture ID for voting (and requiring it to be burdensome) is a false flag, though.