PROPOSED AMENDMENT XXIX TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PRESIDENTIAL SELECTION PROCESS
Rationale: The rationale for this new Presidential selection process is the basic principal of the “one person one vote” concept. If our country truly is, “… of the People, by the People, and for the People”, then, “We the People” should directly select who the leader of our country will be. Procedures will ensure that each person’s vote in presidential elections will have the same weight as every other vote cast. The system will eliminate the unequal value of vote distribution and delegate selection resulting from inherent differences between and within primary elections, caucuses, and political party procedures. News coverage of the Presidential campaign and candidates will be restricted only to reporting of facts. News coverage has turned our election process into a circus as journalists present their personal opinions to the American people as if they were fact. The Constitution of the United States of America will be amended to read as follows; Section 1. A system for the selection of the President and Vice-President of the United States shall be adopted which is based solely on a popular vote to be taken in both a Presidential Primary Election and a Presidential Final Election. The Electoral College and delegate system of selection of candidates will be eliminated. Section 2. The Presidential Campaign series will begin on President’s Day of each leap year. Candidates who wish to run in the Presidential Primary Election must complete necessary paperwork and declare a political party affiliation, sometime between February 1st and President’s Day of any leap year. Section 3. The nationwide Presidential Primary will be held on the last Wednesday of June in each leap year. It will be a national holiday with all government offices, banks, libraries, and schools closed. Voting will take place over the same 24 hour period across the country and territories, starting at 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, and ending at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time of the same day. All states and territories will follow the same procedures for the Presidential Primary Election. Only the total of popular votes cast across the nation and territories will determine the election’s outcome. No exit polls or voting information will be released to the public until 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, the day following the Presidential Primary. The candidates receiving the greatest number of votes within each political party shall have their names placed on the ballot for the Presidential Final Election. Section 4. In the event of a numerical tie among a political party’s candidates in the Presidential Primary Election, a recount of all votes cast will be mandatory, and conducted in the election central office in the State capitals. If the tie persists, the total numbers of votes cast for each candidate within each state, the District of Columbia, and territories will be used to determine the party’s candidate for the Presidential Final Election. The candidate that received the greatest number of popular votes within each state, will receive one vote for each member of Congress that represents the state. Territories that are not represented in Congress will have one vote cast for the candidate who received the greatest number of XXIX – Wayne Macioszczyk - 2008 Page 1 of 4
popular votes. If a numerical tie still exists, both candidates from that party will have their names appear on the Presidential Final Election ballot. Within one week of the Presidential Primary’s conclusion, all winning candidates must announce their Vice-Presidential running mates, if they have not yet done so. Section 5. The Presidential Final Election will be held on the second Wednesday of November of each leap year. It will be a national holiday with all government offices, banks, libraries, and schools closed. Voting will take place over the same 24 hour period across the country and territories, starting at 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, and ending at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time of the same day. All states and territories will follow the same procedures for the Presidential Final Election. Only the total popular vote cast across the nation and territories, will determine the election’s outcome. No exit polls or voting information will be released to the public until 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, the day following the Presidential Final Election. Section 6. In the event of a numerical tie in the Presidential Final Election, a recount of all votes cast will be mandatory, and conducted in the election central office in the State capital. If the tie persists, the total numbers of votes cast for each candidate within each state, the District of Columbia, and territories will be used to determine the new President. The candidate who received the greatest number of popular votes within each state, will receive one vote for each member of Congress that represents the state/district. Territories which are not represented in Congress will have one vote cast for the candidate who received the greatest number of popular votes. If a numerical tie still exists, a run-off election between those candidates will be held on the last Wednesday of November of the same year. All procedures for the run-off elections will be the same as for the Presidential Final Election. Section 7. All states and territories shall follow the same procedures. It will be the responsibility of the Federal Government to provide common ballots and vote counting apparatus to be used in all Presidential Elections. All registered voters will receive the same ballot which will include the names of all the candidates who have chosen to run for the Presidency in both the Primary and Final Elections. Section 8. Absentee ballots will be the same as ballots used for citizens voting in person on Election Day. The Federal Government will provide common Absentee Voting Ballots to the states and territories for distribution to registered voters who request them. Tabulation of absentee ballots will be done during the 24 hour period reserved for the election, using the same model of machine that will count the votes cast in person. Tabulation of all absentee ballots must be completed before any voting results are released, and votes cast on Election Day will be added to that total. Prescient workers will have no access to information concerning votes cast in their districts. Tabulations will be sent electronically to an election central office located in each state and territory. Results from all the states and territories will be electronically sent to a main election center in Washington D.C. for verification and certification. Official announcements concerning election results will come from the main election office in Washington D.C. Section 9. Citizens casting their votes in person on Election Day will mark their secret ballot, and then place it in the tabulating device themselves. A display on the screen will inform the voter if their ballot is countable, and then show them who they cast their vote for, giving them the opportunity to confirm their vote before it is counted. When cast, the vote total for XXIX – Wayne Macioszczyk - 2008 Page 2 of 4
all candidates will be automatically updated. Prescient workers will not have access to the vote count from their districts. After casting their vote, ballots will be placed in a ballot box. At the close of the polls, the number of ballots will be counted to verify that the voting apparatus tabulated the correct number of votes. All ballots cast shall be sent to the election central office located in the states and territories. In case a recount of votes is necessary, it will take place in the election central offices. Section 10. States, counties, and other municipalities may decide to hold other elections on the days of the Presidential Primary and Final Elections. However, all ballot measures and offices to be filled must be found on a separate ballot. Congress may decide to lease the tabulating devices to the States for use in other elections, but tabulation of votes/transfer of totals in the presidential election must be completed before other ballots are counted on leased machines. Section 11. Restrictions will be placed on reporting by the media during the entire election process. Media and journalists will restrict their coverage to reporting of facts. Personal opinions and interpretations of a candidate’s message will not be allowed unless disclaimers are given both verbally and visually through the entire message. Media companies and journalists that violate these restrictions shall face warnings and loss of credentials and licenses from the FCC. Section 12. Debates may be held during both phases of campaigning by any political party or from all announced candidates who wish to participate, or are invited by the group/organization sponsoring the debate. Contributions to the candidates of any political party may not exceed established limits. Private citizen’s contributions shall be tax deductible, but not those from businesses or corporations. Author: Wayne Macioszczyk Reasoning for certain details in the proposed amendment: Section 1: Many Americans were frustrated when in the 2000 election the candidate who received the largest number of votes was not elected President of the United States. They seem to have forgotten their Civics studies in high school concerning the Electoral College. The Electoral College may have served the founding fathers best interests, but many Americans believe today we should have a direct election of our president based solely on popular vote. Section 2: The campaign season for the 2008 Presidential Election was much longer than it needed to be. This amendment shortens the campaign to a more realistic time frame. Section 3 and Section 5: This proposed amendment changes Presidential Election Days to national holidays and moves them to Wednesdays. The hope is to bring about greater participation in the election as many Americans will have more opportunity to exercise their right to vote if they do not have to work. The move to Wednesday is to avoid the possibility of citizens taking a long holiday weekend and not be around to vote. Additionally, if voting across the nation takes place in the same 24 hour time period with no exit polls broadcast, Americans can vote their own conscience and not be swayed by the media. This longer voting period should give greater opportunity to all registered voters to travel to their polling place even if they have to work on a national holiday.
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Section 4 and Section 6: It is extremely improbable that a numerical tie would occur in a direct election, but preparations must be made in case the event may occur. Section 7 and Section 8: It is very important that every aspect of the process of selecting our president be uniform across the nation. The federal government will be responsible to make certain that procedures, ballots, absentee ballots, and counting devices are the same throughout the nation. After all this will be a national election, and these procedures should ensure every vote will be counted and given the same weight. Section 9: Voters will know that their ballot will be properly counted if they are allowed to view that their vote was counted properly. Not allowing access to the vote totals at the prescient level will keep information from “leaking out” about full or partial returns. In the case where a recount is needed or called for, a common procedure would be followed so no irregularities will occur. Section 10: The cost of the federal government supplying common ballots, absentee ballots and voting apparatus will be great, but it is the only way to ensure commonality across the nation. A certain amount of the cost could be absorbed by having all states and territories contribute money that they would have spent running the election on their own, to the federal government. Allowing states to lease the vote counting machines for use in their other elections would also defer some of the cost. Section 11: The coverage by the media of candidates and events surrounding the presidential campaign must be restricted to the reporting of facts. Journalists must not be allowed the opportunity to try and sway the views of American citizens by presenting their biases and opinions as fact. Cable news stations were the biggest culprits during the 2008 campaign. Media needs to return to the standard followed in earlier times, where an oral and verbal disclaimer are presented before and during any comments that are made that are not fact, but show their opinions. These opinions were presented as “Editorials” and should be done so again. Instead of newscasters showing the public clips from a speech, and then telling us what they mean (what they think they mean), run the complete speech by the candidates and let Americans decide for themselves what the person said, and what their message meant. Section 12: Contributions made by private citizens should be tax deductible. The possibility exists that more Americans may contribute to the candidate of their choice is they could deduct the amount of the contribution from their taxes.
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