Political Reform The First Amendment enshrines in our Constitution and guarantees indispensable democratic freedoms of speech, press, and association, and, the right to petition our government. The Republican party affirms that any
regulation of the political process must not infringe upon the rights of the
people to full participation in the political process. The principal cure for the ills of democracy
is greater participation in the political process by more citizens. To that end, we have one guiding principle in
the development of laws to regulate campaigns: Will any particular proposal
encourage or restrict the energetic engagement of Americans in elections? Governor Bush’s agenda for more honest and
more open politics meets that standard.
It will:
Stop the abuses of
corporate and labor "soft" money contributions to political parties.
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Enact "Paycheck
Protection," ensuring that no union member is forced to contribute to anybody’s
campaign — and stopping an annual rip-off of $300 million from union families by
Washington-based politicos.
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Preserve the right
of every individual and all groups — whether for us or against us — to express
their opinions and advocate their issues. We will not allow any arm of government to
restrict this constitutionally guaranteed right.
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Level the playing
field by forbidding incumbents to roll over their leftover campaign funds into a
campaign for a different office.
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Require full and
timely disclosure on the Internet of all campaign contributions — so the media and the public can immediately
know who is giving how much to whom.
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Encourage all
citizens to donate their time and resources to the campaigns of their choice by
updating for inflation the quarter-century-old limits on individual
contributions.
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Preserve access to
the Internet for political speech and debate.
Gerrymandered congressional
districts are an affront to democracy and an insult to the voters. We oppose that and any other attempt to rig
the electoral process.
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Voting is the foundation of democracy, a central act of civic engagement, and an expression of
equal citizenship. Voting rights are important precisely because they are protective of all other
rights. We will call for legislative action that will fully protect and enforce the fundamental
Constitutional right of every American to vote -- to ensure that the Constitution's promise is fully
realized and that, in disputed elections, every vote is counted fully and fairly.
To advance these goals, and to guarantee the integrity of our elections and to increase voter
confidence, we will seek action to ensure that voting systems are accessible, independently
auditable, accurate, and secure. We will support the full funding of programs to realize this goal.
Finally, it is the priority of the Democratic Party to fulfill the promise of election reform,
reauthorize the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and vigorously enforce all our
voting rights laws.
Our voting procedures are observed by people and nations around the world. Every vote must
count and every vote must be counted, including absentee ballots. To achieve all of our goals, we
support moving toward a census that duly counts every American. And we support the election of
candidates who express the many voices of America. |
| Election LawsThe Issue: Electoral systems matter. Many state legislatures have established gerrymandered districts and prohibitively restrictive laws that effectively exclude alternative candidates and parties from their rightful places on election ballots.
Such laws wrongfully deny ballot access to political candidates and
groups, and further deny the voters their right to consider all
legitimate alternatives. Various laws enable the federal and state
governments to control the elections of their own administrators and
beneficiaries, thereby further reducing accountability to
citizens.
The Principle: Elections at all levels should be
in the control of those who wish to participate in or support them
voluntarily. As private voluntary groups, political parties should be
allowed to establish their own rules for nomination procedures,
primaries and conventions. No state has an interest to protect in this
area except for the fair and efficient conduct of elections.
Solutions: We propose electoral systems that are more
representative of the electorate at the federal, state and local levels.
There should be no state or federal restriction of ballot access. Voters
may submit their own choices including the option of using "tickets" or
cards printed by candidates or political parties.
Transitional Action: End government control of political
parties, consistent with First Amendment rights to freedom of
association and freedom of expression. We urge repeal of the Federal
Election Campaign Act and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which
suppress voluntary support of candidates and parties. Primary elections
should be returned to political party convention rather than being a
taxpayer subsidized public event. Add the alternative "none of the
above" to all ballots. In the event that "none of the above" receives a
plurality of votes in any election, either the elective office for that
term should remain unfilled and unfunded, or there shall be a new
election in which none of the losing candidates shall be eligible. In
order to grant voters a full range of choice in federal, state and local
elections, we propose proportional voting systems with multi-member
districts for legislative elections and instant runoff voting (IRV) for
single winner elections. To avoid fraud and manipulation, electronic
voting systems must use a voter verified paper ballot as the ballot of
count, recount, audit and record.
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