What Not to Do and What to Do

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What Not to Do and What to Do

California's 26th congressional district, CA > Voting, Elections & Civic Engagement

David Ross

Proposed Jan. 27, 2018

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What not to do: Do NOT implement balloting over the Internet. I was a software test engineer for 30+ years, testing highly classified software for the U.S. Air Force. I know from experience that error-free software is impossible. What to do: Limit the number of times each year voters go to the polls and also limit the size of the ballots. This is a state issue, but the federal government could provide grants to help the states implement this. Using California as an example, all elections -- local, special, recall, etc -- should occur not more than four times each year: on the Tuesdays following the first Mondays of February, May, August, and November. Non-partisan elections -- including county boards of supervisors and other county officals, school boards, city councils, State Superintendent of Instruction -- should all occur in odd-numbed years with primaries in February and general elections in May (only 3 months between), with officials taking office 1 July; local propositions should be restricted to the November odd-year elections. Partisan elections should occur in even-numbered years with primaries in August and general elections in November; state-wide propositions should be restricted to the November even-year elections. Also, placing a proposition on the ballot needs to be reformed. The IRS considers voting on ballot propositions to be a form of legislation with the voting populace being the legislators. Again, state action is required; but federal authorization is necessary. Those who circulate petitions for propositions should be required to be registered voters in the jurisdiction where the petitions are being circulated. A violation of this restriction should invalidate the affected petition.