There are (at least) three huge problems with the US & state constitutions re: election subversion. Short thread
1) State legislatures are given power over how elections are conducted and which elections are legitimate—which POTUS electors to send, which contests to certify, &c.
1) State legislatures are given power over how elections are conducted and which elections are legitimate—which POTUS electors to send, which contests to certify, &c.
2) Most offices are elected on a plurality-winner district-based electoral system, which incentives zero-sum politics and rewards acting in bad faith and against partisan mutual toleration and forbearance. This is one reason why you have partisan gerrymandering, but also how you
get GA removing full certification power from the Secretary of State, why AZ Senate Rs are voting for a second partisan audit of the 2020 electoral results, which were verified by both bipartisan and non-partisan processes already, and why 75% of R voters Parrott Trump’s big lie.
3) Minoritarian rules + institutions (the Senate, EC & filibuster) enable an anti-democratic minority faction to capture control of state and federal govs, where they can rollback protections against election theft (the likes of which we have only see championed by Rs recently).
These are all really tough issues to fix, esp re subverting elections.
You can, for example, require that all ballots be cast on paper with a verifiable paper trail. You can change the way Congress counts electoral votes. You can voice support for R officials who uphold elecs.
You can, for example, require that all ballots be cast on paper with a verifiable paper trail. You can change the way Congress counts electoral votes. You can voice support for R officials who uphold elecs.
Some of these are even in HR1, which is otherwise quiet on the issue of subversion.
But the institutional factors that have incentivized the GOP’s turn toward authoritarianism will still be present unless you target the root of the problem. The threat will manifest in other ways.
But the institutional factors that have incentivized the GOP’s turn toward authoritarianism will still be present unless you target the root of the problem. The threat will manifest in other ways.
Three principled-but-not-pragmatic fixes:
(1) Adopt more proportional electoral rules, such as MMD + RCV or open-list PR
(2) Add + split up a bunch of states
(3) Amend the Constitution with various vote-counting and electoral vote guidelines that minimize partisan influence
(1) Adopt more proportional electoral rules, such as MMD + RCV or open-list PR
(2) Add + split up a bunch of states
(3) Amend the Constitution with various vote-counting and electoral vote guidelines that minimize partisan influence
Anything less than this is a bandaid. That’s fine, because HR1 + HR4 and other proposals are worth pursuing in their own right. But we should be clear about the root and scope of the problem and the (very) limited promise of various proposals.
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