Prevent suppression of 3rd party/independent candidacy by major parties and the mainstream media.
Require states to conduct a primary election for qualified independent candidates and candidates of political parties that do not have automatic ballot access in the general election. Conduct this primary election on the same day as the first major party primary. Allow the winner of the independent primary election ballot access in the general election. Apply this to each race on the ballot. Candidates in the independent primary running for national office will obtain electoral votes in proportion to the state delegates to congress for each state they win. The winner is the candidate with the most electoral votes irrespective of the total.
Require three debates for the presidential election managed by the federal election commission. Require the first presidential debate in the election cycle to include major party nominees, all 3rd party candidates from parties that already have ballot access, and the winner of the independent primaries. Require all candidates to select a VP prior to the first debate. Require states to remove any candidate from the ballot who does not participate in all three debates if eligible to do so. Set a polling threshold for the second and third debates at 15%. Any poll used must be certified by the federal election commission and include all eligible candidates by name with no âotherâ category.
Require secret service protection for any candidate on the ballot who requests it after the state primary elections are completed.
The main reason for real lack of 3rd Party/Independent candidates is the method by which our elections work.
For Presidential Elections especially, itâs basically a one-and-done system where the goal is getting over 50%. For Presidents, if neither candidate gets over 50%, it goes to a special election determined just by Congress.
So as consequence, when more than two candidates are in a race, it naturally results in splitting issues. And furthermore, when a 3rd party does grow popular enough, it is likely that whichever of the top 2 parties more aligns with the 3rd party will assimilate whatever key issues drive the 3rd party into their own party, rendering the 3rd party redundant.
So ultimately, the proposal here really doesnât accomplish anything useful.
While the need for getting 270 electoral votes is true, the âwinner takes allâ approach is at the state level. So the independent candidate with a strong case can hypothetically win the electoral vote by gaining more than 1/3 of the votes in enough states.
An independent primary will also give a path for independent candidates down ballot, including the House of Representatives. If this causes elections to go the House, more independent or third party elected representatives will also have a say in this process.
Most importantly, voters will be presented with choice in the general election that is not a âthrowawayâ protest vote if the two main party candidates donât appeal to them.
Iâm curious what your thoughts are about my proposal here. I understand if you are wary of sortition, so for now just consider if electors were chosen by some proportional method instead:
I personally would rather that the average American focus on local politics than the president. Iâm not saying the president is unimportant, but weâve really gone overboard and spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about it. And Congress shouldnât be delegating so much power to the president anyway; they should have a healthy level of caution towards him.