I’m not really cut out for activism. Ideas are more my thing. It’s become clear that our political system is broken, that it needs fixing, if not outright replacement. It’s going to be difficult to pass the change we want into law without reforming the system.
In 1994, the Republicans came up with the Contract with America as an effective rhetorical tool. Democrats could use a similar set of talking points to portray themselves as the party of reforming the political establishment. My RADical idea for Reforming American Democracy is to offer up a Voter Bill of Rights, ten constitutional amendments for saving our country. We could offer 17 or 28, but ten is a round, symbolic number.
The question is simple. Do we believe in democracy? Republicans have shown that when they have to choose between democracy or getting their way, they choose their own goals above the principles of democracy. Do Democrats feel the same way? Should we? Is democracy a pragmatic choice because it leads to the best outcomes or do we believe in democracy as a value, as something we strive for even if it yields the worst outcomes because we wish for authenticity in our government that expresses the will of the people?
A voter bill of rights to restore power to the people is the sort of thing I could write a polemic political book about (and maybe I will eventually write something that might be read by a host of people numbering in the tens), a laundry list of ten problems with our democracy and an amendment to fix each problem. This thread may be a start in that direction.
We can begin with the problem of voter suppression. This is enabled because the right to vote is, at best, an unenumerated right under the Ninth Amendment. And some Supreme Court justices seem disinclined to find any specific rights protected under the Ninth Amendment.
The Pocan-Ellison Right to Vote Amendment already exists as a vehicle for establishing a right to vote:
“ Section 1. Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.
“ Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.”
I would precede something along these lines with some flowery text along the lines of “Being fundamental to a democracy, the right to vote shall not be infringed” that echoes the language of previous amendments and serves as a preamble to a set of voting reform amendments.
What those other amendments would look like is up for some debate. Certainly, we would include the presidential popular vote, non-partisan redistricting, and overturning Citizens United. While we would like to change the composition of the Senate, that requires a unanimous agreement by the states, so probably shouldn’t be included.