PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION REFORM
Salvaging the Original Intentions of the Founding Fathers
through Modern Electronic Technology
II. The State Election Debates
The second step in the process is the State Selection Debates. Within each state, the residents who passed the PLT will engage in a series of debates to determine a state champion. These debates will begin on the first Monday in July, following Independence Day.
When a person takes the PLT, he or she will declare on the answer sheet what state he or she prefers to debate in. That will be his or her state of "residence" for the purpose of the presidential election process. Most people will select the state they normally live in, but they are free to choose any state they want to. However, each person can only declare one state. After all the tests are scored, the F.E.C. computers will arrange the debating schedule by pairing off people at random within each state. The persons who pass the test will be notified of their appointed debate time when their result is sent to them within 90 days after they take the test.
The two hundred people who take the second step will probably not be evenly distributed among the fifty states. Some states might contribute ten, while other states do not give any. Let us say that the average state has four persons who passed the PLT. States in which no candidates emerged would not participate in this second step; but, that will be no disadvantage because the voters of all the states will be included in each of the succeeding steps. If there is only one person who passed the test in a state then he or she will not debate but will simply go on to the next step when the time comes.
There will be an F.E.C. moderator in each state to introduce the debaters, instruct the audience as to the procedures, oversee compliance with the rules, and keep the time. The debates will be broadcast on state-wide radio and TV within the state where the debates are being held. The voters in each state will watch the debates during the early evening hours. (The debates will be re-broadcast at 10:00 a.m. the next day for the convince of those who cannot watch TV in the evenings.)
Two one-hour debates will be held per evening. In states where there are 10 contestants, the series will be completed in three evenings. Four candidates will finish their debates in one evening. If their are only two contestants, the debates will take one hour. If there is an odd number of candidates, such as one, three, five, etc., the computer will randomly match the odd person with finalists so that everyone has a chance to debate. (See Table B.)
At the end of each debate, the F.E.C. moderator will ask the viewing audience to write down their votes. When the second debate concludes each evening, the F.E.C. phone lines will be opened so that the viewers can call-in their votes. The lines will be open for three hours at the end of each evening and morning rebroadcast. This is sufficient time for the voters to reflect upon their judgment and to give the F.E.C. time to tally and record the final score before the next day's round of debates.
When voting by modem or phone, people will be programming information into the F.E.C. computers. Each debater will be given a code number. The voters will be informed of that number before and after each debate and asked to write it down. At the end of the second debate the voter will dial 1-800-NOW-VOTE. When a computer answers the phone a buzz will indicate that the voter should enter his or her secret voter registration number. Another buzz will indicate that the number has been entered and that the voter should then enter the code number of the debater he wants to vote for first. When that number is entered a third buzz will sound. Then the voter will punch in his vote. Finally, the voter can enter the code number and vote for the second debate winner as well. Voters can correct errors by pressing the star key and reentering their message.
Throughout the new election game a preferential vote will be used. That is, people will be able to record the intensity of their pro and con feelings for each candidate. Voting scores will range from 0 to 9. A voter who thinks little of one debater can enter a 0 for him, and then enter a 9 for the voter of whom he thinks highly. In this process, each voter has a right to rank each candidate. The highest ranking debater is the winner.
In summary, suppose that their are two debates in one evening. The voters can vote for one winner from each debate. After the end of the second debate the voter will call the F.E.C. computer. Following the instructions of the F.E.C. moderator, when the computer answers, the voter will enter her or his secret registration number, wait for the signal, enter the code number and ranking of each debater in the first debate, wait for the signal, then enter her or his vote for the second debaters. The entire process of voting can easily be completed in less than two minutes.
When the phone lines close, three hours after the end of the second debate, the computer will tally the votes for each debater. On the second Monday in July, debates between the previous winners will be held. If there were two previous winners, there will be one one-hour debate. On that Tuesday evening, Monday's winner will be announced. He or she will be the state champion. Ties are very unlikely with millions of preferential votes being cast. However, in a case of a tie, the tied competitors can hold a tie-breaking debate the night following the announcement of the results.
In this scenario the American people have just screened 200 of the best presidential potential that the nation has to offer. This 200 has been sheared down to the 50 finest people in the land. Each state has selected its own champion. This feat has been performed by well over one hundred million voters making just one phone call each night after watching first two, then one hour of debates on TV. Not bad for two evenings of work. Now every state, large or small, in the middle of the mainland, or far off shore, has an opportunity to see its favorite son or daughter competing for the presidency.
But 50 is still too many for a national debate competition, so again the responsibility for candidate screening must be divided-up among the electorate. The final election of the president requires more exposure to a selection of candidates than would be possible with so many contestants. If fifty people were paired-off for a series of 25 debates, the voters would have to elect their president on the basis of seeing him in only one debate, unless those 50 people debated two or three times. That would be too much, and yet still not enough time to become familiar with all the candidates.
THE PRESIDENTIAL LITERACY TEST THE STATE ELECTION DEBATES THE REGIONAL RUNOFFS
THE NATIONAL NOMINATING DEBATES THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DEBATES