zlacker

Electoral reform. Every state manages its own electoral processes, and the vast majority of states have some mechanism for direct democracy through ballot initiatives.

There are many potential improvements, from algorithmic redistricting to mail-in voting, but the big one IMO is Ranked Choice Voting (Maine has already achieved this successfully, and it's stood up against court challenges [0]). This allows us to break the R/D duopoly, and shift the incentives towards big-tent consensus-building rather than demonization and "lesser evilism", and giving independents and third parties a real path to victory.

[0] https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/rankedchoicefaq....

>>lukife+(OP)
Ranked choice voting (often implemented as instant runoff) likely won’t break the duopoly in the ways you think it will. Approval Voting is a better technique. Check out the Center for Election Science for more info.

>>typest+Ra
Funny you should mention it! I actually prefer Approval voting, partially for its simplicity, partially because it elegantly represents Consent of the Governed. I sometimes don't bother mentioning Approval, because RCV has greater mindshare, and "Ranked Choice" is a little stickier from a branding perspective. I kind of wish there were a better overarching term to describe multiple voting; either way, the priority IMO is that we get off of First Past The Post.

I'll check out CES, thanks.

>>lukife+(OP)
Every state manages its own electoral processes, and the vast majority of states have some mechanism for direct democracy through ballot initiatives.

We already know how states being able to run their own elections worked out in the South before the Voting Rights Act.....

>>lukife+Qc
Fargo, ND will use approval voting for the first time this Tuesday, June 9th. First time in American history. Albeit this is a two-winner race. So their are 7 candidates on the ballot (one of whom dropped out), and two write-in slots. You can vote for as many candidates as you want to, and the two with the most votes win.

https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/6492174...

>>scarfa+Df
I was describing how it works already. Disenfranchisement can also swing the other direction (such as the Supreme Court intervening to stop the Florida recount in 2000).

The main point is: while there's no mechanism for citizens to pass a federal law without the existing parties and representative, most states do have such a mechanism, which puts the power to reform our electoral processes directly in the hands of We The People (while still subject to court oversight under state and federal Constitutions).