#538 Transparency

Transparency. Who is responsible for transparency in election?
Whose responsibility is to maintain transparency in election?

Certainly it is not the responsibility of the royal King or Queen of United States of America.
Surprisingly, it is true. United States of America is the only country on plant earth doesn't have a King or Queen in its history. Every other country, at some point of time had a King or Queen as Head of the State.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the President Barack Obama.

Again, no. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the Vice-President Joe Biden.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the Speaker Paul Ryan.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the Supreme Court Judges. United States Supreme Court played a major role in 2000 election.

By December 8, 2000, there had been multiple court decisions regarding the presidential election in Florida and on that date the Florida Supreme Court, by a 4–3 vote, ordered a statewide manual recount. On December 9, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5–4 to stay the Florida recount.

In 2016 also, Supreme Court is closely watching the activities related to the general election. Perhaps the Supreme Court may take any public material as a petition and may order the Secretary of State to have the names of the Electors in the ballot.

When you buy any commercial item, you see the label with the information about the product. But in general election, you're electing the electors; but you have no idea about them.

Citizens don't even know that they are voting for the Electors. They assume that citizens constitutionally elect the President with their votes. Had they seen the names of those Electors, citizens may raise many questions.

When you start a new business, you need to publish the name in three newspapers. When you change your name, you need to publish that information in three local newspapers. But here, nobody knows the name of those 55 Electors and their occupation and their character.

One Elector didn't show up on the December election day. What will happen if an elector gets elected in November, but dies in December.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the Governor of the State.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the State Legislature.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of any commercial enterprise.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of Google, Facebook, Twitter.

No. Transparency in election is not the responsibility of the Mayor of any city.

Most importantly, No. 
Transparency in election is not the responsibility of CNN or Fox News.

Yes. Transparency in election is the responsibility of the Secretary of the State.

 Secretary of State doesn't need any amendments in the Constitution. Secretary of State doesn't need any new law from the State Legislature. They have it all.

Secretary of State has the authority to make the election transparent. Secretary of State has the responsibility to conduct the election in a transparent way. Secretary of State is accountable for the transparency in election.

The vote needs to have the name in the ballot.

When citizen vote for the Governor, they see the names of those candidates in the ballot.
When citizen vote for the Senator, they see the names of those candidates in the ballot.
When citizen vote for any election, they see the names in the ballot.

What you see is what you get.

Likewise, the ballot should have the names of the Electors. Let citizens meet and shake hands with those Electors.

It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State to provide complete information on their state web portal about the Electors from their State.

Maine and Nebraska - it will not be a challenge.
But the winner-take-all crowd, those 47 states will have a very big challenge.

In Maine and Nebraska, the ballot would have names of candidates for three Elector positions.

In California, the ballot needs to accommodate names of candidates for 55 Elector positions.

In either way,  in the 2016 general election, the Secretary of State will have a place in the history for their action or for their inaction.

#538 Maine State is the Leader of USA

Maine splits its electoral votes

Massachusetts first used the splitting method, called the congressional district method, in the elections of 1804, 1812, and 1820. After seceding from Massachusetts and becoming an independent state in 1820, Maine used this method through the election of 1828. The state then adopted the winner-take-all method employed in the rest of the country in presidential elections after that until 1972, when it resumed the congressional district method.

What brought the older method back?


The presidential election of 1968 in which there was a three-way contest among Republican Richard Nixon, Democrat Hubert Humphrey, and independent George Wallace brought to a head in Maine some of the national calls for reform of the electoral college system. Reformists claimed the three-way race (won by Nixon) made the winner-takes-all method unfair and distanced the outcome from what the people really indicated in the popular vote.

Rep. S. Glenn Starbird Jr., Kingman, heard the cries and introduced a bill to the 104th Maine Legislature in January 1969 that would change Maine’s method of applying its electoral votes back to the congressional district method, which many political pundits considered to be closer to the ideal democracy of one person, one vote.
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Maine and Nebraska stand alone from the rest of the States. It takes courage for Maine and Nebraska.
For Maine, it is the responsibility; it is the responsibility of the mother states. Maine was part of the initial 13 Mother States.

Maine has history. Maine has history in trying out all options. Maine did try both winner-take-all and also the congressional district method. Maine did give-up the winner-take-all method and adopted the congressional district method way back in 1804.

The rest of the 37 are Sister States. In the Sister States, Nebraska stands alone. It takes courage for Nebraska to evaluate both methods and adopt the right method.

Both Maine and Nebraska are not just different from the rest of the crowd. Both Maine and Nebraska stand alone from the crowd. In fact, they are the leaders. It may take other states to follow Maine and Nebraska. But it will not take another century to adopt the congressional district model.

The leaders do have responsibility.

The leader has to do it right. Maine as the leader, has to do things right.

The Constitution of United States empowers the States to elect the President and Vice-President.  So, there is no need for any amendment in the constitution.

The Maine State Legislature did pass the law to adopt the Congressional District method. So, there is no need for any new law to be passed in the State Legislature.

It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap of Old Town, Maine's 49th Secretary of State.

The Executive Responsibility is on Matthew Dunlap. It is the responsibility of Matthew Dunlap to understand the Constitution of United States.

 The Constitution of United States; Article II. Section 1.

Clause 2: Each State shall appoint a number of Electors.

Clause 3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by Ballot for two Persons.

The 12th Amendment.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by Ballot for President and Vice-President.
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It is the executive responsibility of the Secretary of State, Matthew Dunlap to conduct the election as per the Constitution of United States and the State Legislature.

General Election

Description of the General Election - The General Election is held nationally on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. In 2016, Maine voters will select their choice for President/Vice President (this process is called the" popular vote").

Each party’s nomination for President/Vice President of the United States, party candidates who are nominated as a result of the June Primary Election, and unenrolled candidates will appear on the General Election ballot. 

The actual election of President/Vice President occurs through the Electoral College.  The “popular vote” is used to choose Maine’s 4 “electors”, who convene at what is called the “Electoral College” at the State House in December to cast their “electoral votes.”
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Look at the way, we conduct the elections. Do we follow the written Constitution or some unwritten traditional customs.

The Founding Fathers say:

• Let the state appoint a number of Electors.
• Let those Electors elect two persons by ballot vote.

But the traditional customs is totally against the vision of those Founding Fathers and the written Constitution of United States.

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If we follow the Constitution in its letter and its spirits, we will have the names of the Elector Candidates in the ballot.

The General Election is all about electing 4 Presidential Electors of Maine State. Let those 4 Presidential Electors meet in December and elect the President and Vice-President.

Let the citizens of each Congressional District cast vote for Three Electors Candidates.

• One vote for Congressional District Elector
• One vote for Elector at Large
• Another vote for the second Elector at Large

In December, Let those 4 Electors meet and vote for the President and Vice-President of United States.

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It is the constitutional responsibility of the Citizens to vote and elect the Electors. 

The 4 Electors represent the whole state of Maine. 

Elector is a Constitutional position; like Senators and House of Representatives.

No individual could appoint the Presidential Electors. That traditional custom is against the constitution. 

Could any individual appoint a Senator or House of Representatives? No.

Elector is a constitutional authority and they do have the responsibility to elect the President and Vice-President.

Jury of the Court is a short term position; but they do have the Judicial Authority and Responsibility.

Likewise, Elector is a short term position. Nobody should appoint Electors. Electors need to be elected by the people with vote by ballot.

Why do we need to Fake Electors? The Constitution empowers the Electors. But we make them dummy and ineffective.

Why don't we conduct the real election?

If we strongly believe the current tradition is much much better than the written constitution, then, let us amend the Constitution. We cannot continue with the current practice with our much published written Constitution of the United States.

It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State; not only Maine and Nebraska; but also all 50 states.

Let the Secretary of all states meet and plan for the General Election.

It is all about electing 538 Presidential Electors in November.

In December, let them meet and elect the President and Vice-President.

Definitely, you cannot make Vice-President a dummy position. You make 538 electors dummy. That's not fair. Certainly, you cannot continue with the usual way. It has already been disrupted. 

  

#538 Washington, D.C.

Washington, District of Columbia has their own problems. The only election, they could participate is the Presidential Election. They have no State Governor election; no Senator election; no House of Representatives election.

All 100 Senators from 50 states have office in Washington, D.C. But they don't have senators. Nobody represents the citizens of Washington D.C. in the Congress.

It is the same problem in New Delhi too.

Yes, the democracy has three branches. Do they all have to be physically present it in one place?

The three branches have clear separation. Why don't they have physical separation too?

Let the Congress be in Washington D.C.
Let the Supreme Court be in the mid-west.
Let the Executive Branch be in the west.

Let us build a new palace for the President in Moffett Field, Mountain View, California. Let the power of the democracy be distributed across the United States of America.

When they started, there were only 13 states; California was not there. Now, we have 50 states. Let us have the Executive Branch in California.

Washington DC has its unique place in the Electoral College. Washington DC has no place in the Senate or House of Representatives. Washington DC could make a huge difference, if they follow the Constitution of the United States.

In the General Election, citizens of Washington DC elect their Electors. They elect three Presidential Electors. Are those three electors have the same constitutional authority? No.

• One Elector for the Congressional District of Columbia
• One Elector for the State equivalent of Washington DC
• Another Electors also for the State equivalent of Washington DC

When Washington DC strictly follows the Constitution of the United States, the citizens need to vote and elect three Electors. 

It is not clear, whether the citizens elect the Presidential Electors by distinct vote of ballot or single ballot.

Assume that, 10 candidates file nomination for the General Election for the position of the Electors.

Option 1: All 10 candidates name be in a single ballot and people cast vote. The Secretary of DC could announce the first three candidates as winners.

But, this model does not reflect the true democracy.

Option 2: Let there be three ballots. One for the Congressional District. One for Senate one; another for Senate two. Each ballot may have ten candidates each. Let people vote for one person for each ballot.

In that way, more people would participate in the democracy.

The winning Presidential Electors would cast one vote for the President and another vote for the Vice-President.

Three Presidential Electors is the Constitutional Authority of the citizens of Washington DC. They didn't get it easy. They fought for it and with the 23rd amendment, they got three Presidential Electors.

The Secretary of DC needs to understand the value of the General Election. If thirty citizens be the candidate for the Presidential Electors, then that would be the foundation for more representation and participation in the democracy process.

#538 Top-Down vs Bottom-Up

source: Brand Democracy

 Top-Down

The current practice of the Presidential Election is a Top-Down model. Here, the Media owns the election and drives in its own way. Others need to just follow the media. The State needs to accept the directions of the media. Citizens are expected to conform to the propaganda of the media. The media overrides the constitutional authority of the state, constitutional authority of the citizens, constitutional authority of the Presidential Electors. The Constitution of United States failed to realize the propaganda power of the media. The Media is in the top and drives down the presidential election process against the Constitution of the United States. The Media is the unconstitutional authority and creates chaos and confusion in the Presidential Election process. The citizens, the state ignores the Constitution and follows the directions of the media.

Level	Authority	Responsibility
1	Media	The Presidential Election process is organized by the media
2	Presidential Candidates	Media projects two individuals as the Future President of USA
3	Debates & Town hall discussions	Media projects larger than life image of those two individuals
4	Presidential Electors	The Presidential Candidates appoint the electors
5	General Election	State conducts the election with the names of media sponsored individuals in the ballot
6	Voting	Citizens cast vote for the candidate. But the State considers those votes are for the electors
7	Presidential Electors	State announced the list of electors appointed by the winning candidates.
8	Electoral College	The Presidential Electors meet in the state capital
9	Vote for President	No vote. Just a signature
10	Vote for Vice President	No Vote. Just a signature
11	Oath Ceremony	Both President and Vice-President take oath
	The End

 Bottom-Up

The Constitution of the United States is based on Bottom-Up model. It starts from the citizens. We, the people file their nomination to the Secretary of State to be the candidate for the following positions:

• Elector - Congressional District
• Elector - State One 
• Elector - State Two

 We, the people cast their votes for the Electors. In this process, people participate not only in the general election, but also in the electoral college.

Level	Authority	Responsibility
1	General Election	State conducts the election with the names of Elector candidates
2	Voting	Citizens cast vote for the electors
3	Presidential Electors	State announced the list of electors.
4	Electoral College	The Presidential Electors meet in the state capital
5	Vote for President	Electors vote for the President
6	Vote for Vice President	Electors vote for the Vice-President
7	Oath Ceremony	Both President and Vice-President take oath
	The Beginning

In the Bottom-Up process, at all levels, people participate with greater responsibility. In fact, this is the democracy of the people.  When citizens act with total responsibility, they would elect high-moral value citizens as their electors. When those electors act with total responsibility, they would elect high-moral value person with leadership qualities as the President and Vice-President.

 The Media do have a role; a very important role; just tell the truth as it happens.

The Media needs to stop being a medium for propaganda and start practice the truth.

The Media do not need to make any individual into larger than life image. By their actions, the President and the Vice-President will eventually become larger than life, for real.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton - not by the media; but, by their actions, they are in a larger than life position.

#538 Constitutional Process

General Election

As per the Constitution of United States, each citizen needs to cast three votes and elect three Presidential Electors by ballots. When citizens walk into voting center on November 8, 2016, three ballots will be given to each citizen. Here is the list of votes:

• One vote to elect the Elector of Congressional District
• One vote to elect the Elector of the State One
• One vote to elect the Elector of the State Two

The ballots will have names of the Electors only. The ballots will not have the name of any Presidential Candidate or the name of the Vice-Presidential Candidate.

In the General Election, Citizens of the United States elect only the Presidential Electors.

Once the General Election is over, each state will announce result of the Presidential Electors and appoint them as the Electors of the State.

Electoral College

The Electors of the State will assemble in their state capital and cast two votes; one for the President and another for the Vice-President.

Then the President and Vice-President will take oath and the Presidential Election will come to an end. With the oath ceremony, the Electors of the State will vacate their constitutional positions.

Before the General Election, projecting any individual as the Next President of United States is unconstitutional and will prejudice the Presidential Electors.

By casting two distinct ballots, the Presidential Electors of the State will elect the President and Vice-President. The self-proclaimed presidential candidates have no constitutional authority to appoint any individual as the Vice-Presidential candidate.

Before the General Election; before the Electoral College, self-promotion of any individual as presidential candidate or vice-presidential candidate is unconstitutional and any such actions will be considered as an insult to the constitutional authority of the Electors of the State.

Considering any individuals for the position of the President and Vice-President is the constitutional authority of the Electors of the State. Media or any other pre-established body cannot project any individual or any pair of individuals as the candidates for the position of the President and Vice-President. Any such action would challenge the authority of the current President and will cause damage to the current Executive Branch.

Projecting any individuals or set of individuals as the future President and Vice-President of United States would challenge the constitutional authority of the entire election process; would challenge the constitutional authority of the State Legislature; would challenge the constitutional authority of the Presidential Electors.

Organizing presidential candidate debates is against the Constitution of United States. Any such propaganda would influence the Electors of the State.

Summary:

• Citizens of United States have the rights to elect the Presidential Electors.
• Presidential Electors of the State would elect the President and the Vice-President by casting distinct vote by ballot
• No other organizations have any constitutional rights to interfere in the election process.
• Media and other organizations have no constitutional rights to project or to promote any individual as the potential candidate.
• Influence; interference; disruption; promotion; projection and other activities will be considered as unconstitutional.
• Media has no constitutional authority to replace or interpret the Constitution of the United States.
• Terms like, Winner-take-all; Split-Vote; Running mate; Presidential Debate; third party candidate; Magic Number 270 - all are strictly prohibited.
• President of United States is a very serious position of Planet Earth; just below the God.
• Certainly, media cannot commercialize the Presidential Election.
• It is a serious one; it is George Washington's job.
• Presidential Election is not a game; it is not about winning or losing; it is not about magic number 270.
• President of United States is all about leadership; not only to America, but also to the entire Plant Earth.
• Winning 270 is no good. 
• Let us not interfere with 538 Presidential Electors. Let us have no doubt on the ability and authority of those 538 Presidential Electors. The 538 Presidential Electors will act with total responsibility and will elect the best for the top level positions in the Executive Branch.
• The current Executive Branch is still has the constitutional authority and responsibility. Let us not insult the current leadership in front of the whole world. Any insult to any constitutional authority is an insult to the entire, We, The People.