Call for U.S. Federal Election Reform

Once more, as of November 2010 majority political power has been returned to the GOP, a party seeking excessive wealth for the few at the expense of the many, regardless of cost to truth and democracy. This experience illuminates the need to revitalize the justice and prosperity that springs from real democracy as witnessed in the mid-20th century, which seems increasingly suspiciously to never stop eluding contemporary Democrats when they are in power. Therefore, the undersigned hereby petition our government for redress as follows:

We acknowledge three principal civic necessities without which the fullest human potentials cannot be achieved: beneficial relations, physical sustenance and education in effective reasoning as well as vocational skill. People naturally recognize and cultivate these necessities unless obstructed by war, exploitation, hatred, oppression, or any form of abuse, so it is politically imperative to alter or abandon projects giving rise to such violent, destructive events.

In this light, we may further acknowledge that some of the greatest evils have been committed in the name of eradicating evil, and call for a stop to all wars, including those related to terrorism, drugs, debt, oil and water, as well as aggression directed at spiritually and culturally diverse peoples. Signers hereto also call for a committed drive to justice, informed by appropriately limited amnesty for corporate, political and military criminals. Remedies for war crimes and ongoing hatred and injustice must be implemented now, and made sufficiently moderate to stunt seeds of future reactionary imperialism.

These remedies include widest possible effective distribution of physical necessities, healthcare, energy, education, and simple, workable bureaucracy. We do not seek complete uniformity of wealth holding; reasonable material rewards are essential to individual and social progress. However, current disparity in distribution is causing extremes of deprivation and excess that threaten the survivability of humanity and the biosphere, and is untenable.

We hereby instruct our representatives to establish the remedies described above and abolish any policy that obstructs them, as well as election reform necessary to improve Congressional and government performance.

The three biggest election problems are: a) media bias and special interest distortion of pre-election information, b) corruption in vote tabulation, and c) corruption in voter solicitation and suppression. Remedies for these problems would be: a) institute public-only campaign financing (no opt-in or -out) and regulate (balance) candidate-specific media content; b) restrict voting to paper ballots and require hand counting only; and c) make election day a national holiday and legally require eligible citizens to vote, with exceptions for extenuating circumstances and conscientious objection, in order to avoid a $50 fine.

Signers hereto are urged to forward this petition to their Representatives and the President. All Congressional and Presidential contact information is available at www.congress.org.