The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Our government is in crisis, and part of the fault is its undemocratic architecture. Three reforms can pave the way for our future as a democratic republic: increase the size of the U.S. House of Representatives, and institute both national popular vote and ranked-choice voting.
The size of the House was formally set at 435 members in 1929. The U.S. population in 1929 was about 121 million. Each Representative had about 278,000 constituents. Our population has nearly tripled since 1929, but the House has not changed. Each Representative now has about 800,000 constituents. There is no way to truly represent that many people. Smart people have figured out ways to increase the size of the House using various formulas that would allow for its continued growth. An ancillary reform is multi-member districts like our Arizona House.
People are also reading…
The second reform is national popular vote — truly one person, one vote. Currently, a limited number of voters in five to seven swing states (currently including Arizona) actually determines who our president will be. Other votes don’t count because of the electoral system. A number of states are entering into a compact to achieve this reform. Once the number of states that join equals 270 votes, the compact becomes effective. Those states pledge to cast their votes for the national popular vote winner. The electoral college then becomes the undemocratic relic it is. No constitutional amendment would be required to enact this reform. Arizona has not yet joined this compact, but it has been promoted by both Republican and Democratic legislators at various times, including recently.
The third reform is ranked-choice voting. Voters rank their choices among candidates of all parties, and instant runoffs (hello, computers!) determine the winner. The winning candidate must have a majority of 50% plus one. No candidate can win with only a plurality. It’s not hard to do — ask any child who had to choose their next favorite ice cream. Or ask all the voters in Australia or Ireland who have been voting this way for more than 100 years. Needing to get that second or third choice vote means candidates have to widen their appeal beyond their base. And unpopular candidates, even in heavily red or blue districts, cannot win, so less ugly races.
Our country has changed dramatically in the last 250 years. We need to work to institute these needed reforms to ensure representative government for our future.
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
Gail Kamaras is a retired attorney and amateur student of U.S. and constitutional history. She's lived in Tucson nearly twenty years.
