WaPo: Warren unveils far-reaching plan to overhaul elections

[crazytown]

Washington Post, June 25, 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/warren-unveils-far-reaching-plan-to-overhaul-elections/2019/06/25/617ee382-96b5-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html

Warren unveils far-reaching plan to overhaul elections

A day before Sen. Elizabeth Warren takes center stage in the first Democratic presidential debate, she unveiled a $20 billion plan to federalize national elections, notably by buying new voting machines for the entire country, standardizing ballots and making Election Day a holiday.

(snip) On Tuesday, she turned to the country’s elections for national office, a sore point across the political spectrum. Democrats, particularly in the South, contend that actions by GOP-led states to tighten voter ID requirements, purge voter rolls and take similar actions have suppressed Democratic votes. Republicans have complained of voter fraud, and President Trump created a national commission to examine voting irregularities, although it disbanded without issuing a report.

“Voting should be easy. But instead, many states make it hard for people to vote,” Warren wrote in a Medium post outlining her new policy. “.?.?. Our elections should be as secure as Fort Knox. But instead, they’re less secure than your Amazon account.”

Warren proposes buying new voting machines for all of the roughly 8,000 election jurisdictions in the country, mandating automatic and same-day voter registration and giving all voters access to 15 days of early voting and voting by mail.

$20 billion? Cheap at twice the price.

[bluewater]

1. K&R

[SouthernProgressive]

2. Our next President needs to push constitutional bounds in order to protect our elections.

Putting federal protections in place to strengthen voting rights, access to the ballot, standardization of options among different areas, and create an extremely transparent and verifiable process when it comes to counting the votes.

[Martin Eden]

3. I'd also like to see Instant Runoff Voting (ranked choice)

I would think the federal government should be able to mandate that for federal elections.

[SouthernProgressive]

5. I would oppose that with everything I have.

Don't like one thing about it.

[Martin Eden]

6. OK, I'll tell you what I like about it.

First of all, Gore would almost certainly have won Florida and with presidency in 2000 with IRV. Lack of IRV results in people helping to elect their last choice when they vote for their first choice -- like the people who voted for Nader but would have much preferred Gore over Bush.

I'm a lifelong Democrat, but I am not enamored of the two party system. It leads to a polarized electorate with no real choice because the other party is completely unacceptable. Our nation's Founders, especially Washington, disdained political parties and certainly did not have in mind the bipolar system we have now.

More choices can mean more discussion of ideas, and perhaps a real reform of our highly dysfunctional electoral system. Gerrymandering still thrives because the party in power does not want to lose that advantage.

With Instant Runoff Voting, the eventual winner will have received a majority of votes (in each state, at least. I would LOVE to see the Electoral College abolished).

[iscooterliberally]

4. Elizabeth Warren has real plans!

I wanted to vote for her in 2016. I'm so glad she's running now!