this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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Politics
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Its clear you are being an idealist. It just seems rather unrealistic. You may not like the idea of "voter accountability" narrative but it is the bloody answer. Nearly 30% of eligible voters didn't even bloody vote and I'm talking about the 2020 election. Which is the election with one of the highest turnouts in recent memory. Also we as voters should be participating in the primaries/caucuses, it is a part of our civic duty. We can desire accountability from our candidates but we voters also need to be accountable for our (as a whole) inaction, primaries have an attendance of around 30-20% for both parties combined. This calculation is also only based on votes during primary divided by eligible voters in that state. None of the values I have found divide the number of votes by the amount of registered party members and I feel that number will be a bit more enlightening even though it will be flawed unless it was a closed primary because Democrats are thought to have the higher population appeal but my own assumptions would tell me they are also the ones who are the least likely to attend these events even though these events are the ones who decide who will be the running on the ballot in the general election.
Sure you may want to be this idealist but face the fact that authorities aren't the only ones who need to be held accountable.
I love the idea of getting people out to vote. I've knocked on thousands of doors for dems to such ends. How is asking more of politicians and calling them out unrealistic? Is that not what the Kochs and other wealthy conservatives did when they funded the "grassroots" Tea party which then largely began a race to the right for Republicans? Because that worked.
I can understand that frustration with voters. How about we demand legislation making the vote mandatory (like australia) or that all votes be made federal holidays? The point is that there's things that can be done. More than the bare minimum isn't idealism. And we can say we'd never get the votes, but why not try? Republicans literally trot out legislation that would never pass for that very reason.
My point is that the authorities are in no way being held to account and that I'm sick of people only putting the blame at the feet of the voters. We can't even trust candidates to act as Dems, such as Sinema or Cotham. Why is a call for greater candidate accountability at all "idealist" in the face of this stuff?
So charge the poor because their work doesn't give them days off on voting day. I mean we can push for things hell the whole covid thing has actually helped quite a bit for pushing mail in voting. I think this has been bloody great since it allows people to research their candidates at length and mail in your ballot once you are done and ready. It should just be an automatic thing but many will fight against it.
So tell me how you plan on holding them to account? Realistically the only thing you can do is vote them out in the next election, which again falls back to the voter to be aware of what they did and make sure it doesn't happen again. The only thing else would having to be proposing a provision in the law for a recall but beyond that the answer is always going to be a vigilant and active voter base. We live in a world where people can barely give a shit about politics already
To your first point:
A holiday to highlight both the importance of elections and give people time to vote in the manner they deem fit is a minimal loss of income in return for the guarantee they are not disenfranchised. It's not only a net gain down the line for increased wages and benefits but also important in the ability to make voting a family affair. Additionally, you framing it as a financial burden or tax upon the poor feels gross and makes me wonder about your intent. If you're worried about people living paycheck to paycheck, then we figure out a stipend or credit to be determined at tax time and or more immediate emergency financial assistance where needed. We pay people for jury duty, why not credit them for voting?
To your second point:
Off the top of my head we develop some sort of actionable pledge of intent or pact that we should get candidates to sign on to as a contract. Again, I don't like it but the tea party had a similar "contract from America" It should state a candidates outward opinions and beliefs and outline from that baseline a point that they identify that they will not cross. If a candidate voluntarily signs themselves into legal liability that could devastate their current and future financial holdings it should act as a buffer to corruption.
People might start to give a shit if they see a meaningful change.
Edit: formatting change from numbered list to listed points, because the published version looked bunched up. deleted repeat word typo