Commentary On Elections-Part One

 Commentary On Elections-Part One

The US is one of the few nations that allows the head of its federal executive branch to be directly elected, for the most part, by its citizenry.

Is this really a good idea? While the US Constitution actually bans this with its 12th Amendment, this practice has happened nonetheless for many decades. This direct choosing of the head executives of the federal and even state governments needs to stop. These head executives do not make the law but rather preside over the administration of the agencies which enforce the law. They have to maintain a certain amount of distance with the citizenry so that they can perform their duties with the required competence, expertise, and impartiality. They should be partially shielded from the "Winds Of Populism" and thus not be subject to either direct or electoral popular vote.

To be technically precise, the President and Vice-President are not supposed to be directly elected by the entire citizenry as presently each state's electoral votes, as one unit, decides those elections. Because the entire citizenry in each state directly chooses the state's choice for President and Vice-President, it is suffice to cite that these two officeholders are basically directly chosen by the citizenry electorate through the electoral voting process.

With the current system, only a major party establishment candidate or a billionaire such as Donald Trump can contest the Presidential elections. This is not what the Founding Fathers wanted. While they decided they did not want lawmakers to choose the President and Vice-President, they knew that the average voter throughout the nation did not have the acumen to objectively and meritoriously choose the Commander-In-Chief Of The Armed Forces and the head executive of federal government.

In addition the drafters of the US Constitution had the same belief pertaining to the choosing the head executives of state government. The state governments are supposed to basically mirror the federal government in having a republic form of government. They also did not want the head executives of state government to be chosen by the general electorate or by lawmakers for the same reasons.

America needs to get rid of its present system of choosing the President, Vice-President, Governor, and Lt. (Vice)Governor. They need to have electors choose these officeholders instead as the US Constitution requires.

The U.S. Constitution needs to be amended so federal government can legislate how a separate set of electors for each President and Vice-President of the United States should be chosen. Federal law should be changed so that each Presidential and Vice-Presidential elector should be elected by electoral popular vote by the registered and eligible electorate of each congressional district. Along with those electors, each state should be mandated to have each legislative house choose its at-large elector for the President and for the Vice-President respectively.

All electors (Presidential and Vice-Presidential each) should meet in the state's capitol and each elector votes by ballot to determine who the state's choice for President and Vice-President will be. The list of eligible state's candidates for President and Vice-President are made available to each set of electors. All votes cast by ballots from each and every elector are sealed, mailed to the federal seat of government, and then opened by the VPOTUS (President Of The United States Senate) at the nation's capitol and are counted in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Pertaining to the gubernatorial races, each elector for Governor and for Vice-Governor should be elected by electoral popular vote by the citizenry of each delegate/assembly district and of each state senate district respectively. Both set of electors should meet in the state's capitol and each elector votes by ballot to determine who the Governor and Vice-Governor will be. The list of eligible candidates for Governor and Vice-Governor are each made available to them. All votes cast by ballots from each and every elector are sealed, then mailed to the state seat of government, and finally opened by the vice-governor (president of the state senate) at the state's capitol. Those votes cast by ballots are counted in the state house of delegates/assemblymen.

Cliff Notes Version: When it comes to choosing POTUS, VPOTUS, and even governors and vice-governors, direct elections by citizen voters do not work. Electors must be used instead. 

These positions should not be subject to a popularity contest. People in those positions need to be examined for skill, competence, administrative ability, and demonstration of impartiality. They are not supposed to tailor-make their duties to the will of the people because they are not lawmakers. Only lawmakers are supposed to do that provided they stay within the confines of the U.S. and state constitutions.