Are Political Parties Ruining the US?

[Khoranth]

The system is not the problem, the voters are. If a huge group of people only vote based on party, and not the actual candidate, that really is not the party's fault.

People already have the option of studying the candidates for each election and choosing who they think is best.

And hell, at any given national election 30-50% of the US population does not even bother to vote. Having a better gov't is easy: have 90% or more of the population study each candidate and vote on who they like. The existence of parties is not preventing this from happening.

[Orlong]

Uhhh, no.

Conservatives have been successfully campaigning to get the polls closed earlier in a lot of places, in order to stop the people who have shit jobs from voting.

You got a citation for that?

[Reeve]

Political parties are unavoidable, and as long as we have a first past the post system with no runoff elections, it's gonna be a two party system.

[ItachiZaku]

I voted for him because at the time (2008) I liked him better than Hillary, not because he was black. And in 2012, I voted for him because Romney and Ryan scared the bejesus out of me, not because Obama is black... maybe you should not project these type of things on other people?

Cuz i obviously meant all you people.

[Fahrenheit]

I voted for him because at the time (2008) I liked him better than Hillary, not because he was black. And in 2012, I voted for him because Romney and Ryan scared the bejesus out of me, not because Obama is black... maybe you should not project these type of things on other people?

But you didn't vote for Obama over Hillary in 2008, being as their both democrats, not unless you're a representative for the state at the DNC. I think you mean you voted for Obama over McCain.

Or are you talking some kinda of primary or something?

[BLCalliente]

You got a citation for that?

Sure, Google voter suppression.

[Yvaelle]

Sure, Google voter suppression.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_s..._United_States

Plenty of good examples with sources of it in the US. The most recent example being:

2012 Florida

A Florida law passed in 2011 by the Florida legislature which reduced the days available for early voting, barred voter-registration activities of groups like the League of Women Voters, and made it more difficult to vote for voters who since the last election had moved to a different county within the state. Jim Greer, the main source cited in the Palm Beach Post article sentence to 18 months for embezzling from the Florida Republican Party.[42][43] A majority of early voting ballots cast in 2008 were cast by Democratic voters, and minority voters are more likely to move. The reason given by Republican politicians for the law was to reduce cost and to deter voter fraud, however the former senior Republican officials revealed that the true drivers of the law were GOP political consultants who were seeking ways to suppress the Democratic vote.[44]

Several factors, including the reduction in early voting, reductions in the number of polling places, and an unusually lengthy ballot that included 11 detailed constitutional amendments, all combined to produce long lines on election day, with waits of several hours.[45] By one estimate, the result was that at least 201,000 likely voters did not vote, either leaving the line in frustration or not even getting on line when they saw how long it would take.[45]

[Orlong]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_s..._United_States

Plenty of good examples with sources of it in the US. The most recent example being:

2012 Florida

A Florida law passed in 2011 by the Florida legislature which reduced the days available for early voting, barred voter-registration activities of groups like the League of Women Voters, and made it more difficult to vote for voters who since the last election had moved to a different county within the state. Jim Greer, the main source cited in the Palm Beach Post article sentence to 18 months for embezzling from the Florida Republican Party.[42][43] A majority of early voting ballots cast in 2008 were cast by Democratic voters, and minority voters are more likely to move. The reason given by Republican politicians for the law was to reduce cost and to deter voter fraud, however the former senior Republican officials revealed that the true drivers of the law were GOP political consultants who were seeking ways to suppress the Democratic vote.[44]

Several factors, including the reduction in early voting, reductions in the number of polling places, and an unusually lengthy ballot that included 11 detailed constitutional amendments, all combined to produce long lines on election day, with waits of several hours.[45] By one estimate, the result was that at least 201,000 likely voters did not vote, either leaving the line in frustration or not even getting on line when they saw how long it would take.[45]

Still no mention of reducing available hours that polling places are open

[Kraenen]

Still no mention of reducing available hours that polling places are open

I'm not a scientist but if my calculations are correct when you reduce days available you reduce hours. I don't know.

[Orlong]

I'm not a scientist but if my calculations are correct when you reduce days available you reduce hours. I don't know.

The original complaint was reduced hours on election day. Early voting shouldnt even be allowed because results of early polling can influence whther people vote on election day or not

[Wildtree]

The original complaint was reduced hours on election day. Early voting shouldnt even be allowed because results of early polling can influence whther people vote on election day or not

1. Early voting results ought to be disclosed.
2. Voting during a weekday is utterly bullshit. Heaps of people cannot vote because of that, and despite of the 14 hours openings...
a) you can't just vote wherever you want, instead you must go to that one location where you're appointed to.
b) many people work longer days, and have additional chores, therefore have to rush home, or to the second job since their minimum wage job won't pay the bills anyway.

I don't agree with election day being a holiday either, that's overdoing it, but a damn Sunday like most modern democracies do it, should not kill anyone.

[Yvaelle]

Still no mention of reducing available hours that polling places are open

I don't actually find solid evidence to support shortened voting hours on election days (and I didn't make that claim), googling it refers to a number of blogs claiming shortened voting hours, but no news sources I'd trust or bills come up (I only gave it a minute or two, but that's usually sufficient for my googling speed).

With that said, the wikipedia I linked is filled with tactics used and documented to have swayed modern elections - hours-long lineups, deregistration, incorrectly labeling people as felons, disinformation about their voting office to invalidate their votes, unequal resources for district voting staff (which usually manifests as longer lines, but has other impacts as well).

Probably the most interesting one I hadn't heard of before was Caging Lists. For example in 2008 in michigan, the republicans got a-hold of the democratic mailing list, and sent out mass mail prior to the election, anyone who didn't mail them back, or addresses from which they received return-to-senders, or addresses which the post office couldn't identify - they managed to successfully claim were ineligible to vote: automatically invalidating votes as they came in on election day (without informing them, either). It also happened in five other states that year.

[bergmann620]

The problem isn't parties- it's that the ones we have are not nearly granular enough. No one I know fully agrees with either party, but if they want to vote for a guy with a chance of winning, they are forced to eat half of a shit sandwich no matter who they vote for.

Personally, I vote for the best candidate in a given race, regardless of party. Politics- even the ideological genesis of their policies are less important to me than the overall strength of the candidate. There are a few issues I don't compromise much on (primarily civil rights), but outside of that, I'd easily vote for or be able to respect someone I disagree with on specific policy ideas if I thought they were more likely accomplish something positive.

All that said, I think the current nature of the 'news' media is more damaging than the parties that they are 'covering'.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't agree with election day being a holiday either, that's overdoing it, but a damn Sunday like most modern democracies do it, should not kill anyone.

A lot of bus routes don't run on Sundays.

We need an amendment to the Constitution stating that the voting procedure for any election to a Federal office is set by the Federal government.

We then need a central governmental platform into which all votes are tabulated. At which time, we begin a process in which you can vote in myriad ways- from absentee to in person to online. Each election should have a 2-week window during which ballots are cast. After processing, you should be able to log on to a portal and verify your vote. Once the ballot box is closed, you have 3 days to make sure your vote is in the system properly. At the end of that period, all results should be finalized and released to the public.

I also think every ballot should have a "I have no knowledge of or confidence in any of these trashbags. I vote for no one" options, and that everyone that is physically and mentally able to vote should be required to vote.