Changes I would like to see....

The recent election got me thinking about a load of things that I feel are wrong with elections today... With this thread I'm going to share a few of them with you hoping to get other ATS members thoughts on it. I would also ask that if you have an issue with our current system, please express it so we can discuss options (if any) we may have to fix the system we have in place today.

1. I would like there to be greater requirements for a person to become eligible to vote in an election. I want the voter to truly understand what each candidate stands for. I'm sick of old conservatives voting republican because the candidate is christian and white and I'm also sick of democrats voting for their candidate because he's black... I want people voting because they truly agree and understand what the candidate stands for.. I'm sick of misinformed voters having their voices heard in such meaningful elections. Voting is a privilege and I feel people should take it more serious..

2. I want term limits for the senate and house... I'm sick of these politicians who've been in office for 20-30 years... I feel that it's time to get fresh, new ideas into the Govt. And just like the President, both the house and senate will carry two terms.

3. Not sure how others feel, but i would like to get rid of the electoral college. It seems like a dated system and I would like to see popular vote decide elections now.

4. I wish the american people had more of a voice when it comes to getting both sides (Democrats & Republicans) to work with one another. I'm sick of both sides always sticking to their guns, I hate the stubbornness they display constantly, when they refuse to work with each other we see zero progress and we lose in the long run.

Am I alone with the changes I ask for, do my views seem extreme to any of you? I hear often that "if it ain't broken, then don't fix it"... well, i feel a lot of our Govt. is broken, I feel our election system is questionable at best and I would love to see the changes I asked for...

And for the record, this isn't some anti-obama rant or anything like that... You can check my post history, I consider myself a moderate I dont take a firm stance with any one party. I just want the country to get back to what it once was. I'm not happy, I'm sure many more feel the same way, nowadays we can't divide this country we all need to come together to bring it back...

You're right, it IS broken and it does need to be fixed!

I don't know about restricting peoples vote and all, that seems unpatriotic to me but I can understand where you're coming from and would agree that we should push for our fellow citizens to be more politically aware. I think we can all agree that these are some of the things that truly need to be done.

TERM LIMITS : No career politicians

No more than 6 years in congress per person!

Only one shot for the big seat! The president should only serve one five year term. The president would be able to get a lot more done if he/she did not have to worry about trying to get reelected.

Abolish Super Pacs and do not allow private funding for the people running for political positions. It should all be public funding!

No party should be ignored! Give every candidate an equal opportunity! Allow them all to be heard and allow them all to participate in the debates with no favoritism shown to anybody. Let the people decide who they want!

Get rid of the electoral college and let the popular vote be the true decision maker!

Stop paying them when they're done doing the job!

reply to post by Anundeniabletruth


I also believe that there should be a cap on how much money a politician can spend on his/her election... The spending that goes into these elections nowadays is flat out ridiculous... This last presidential election is said to have gone over $2 billion (and im sure thats an conservative estimate).. Imagine the good they could do with that money

Originally posted by jhn7537
3. Not sure how others feel, but i would like to get rid of the electoral college. It seems like a dated system and I would like to see popular vote decide elections now.

The electoral college as it now operates isn't a very good method but there is one potential problem with electing the president by a popular vote: if a recount was needed it would be necessary to recount every vote in the country. We already know how difficult it is to recount the votes of one state. What that was multiplied by fifty?

Rather than abolishing the electoral college we should modify it by assigning one electoral vote to each congressional district. Then if a recount was needed it would be confined to one congressional district rather than requiring a count of the votes of a whole state or the whole country.