While Australia has a short, campaign season for all seats in both houses of the Australian Parliament, America’s campaign season, especially in regards to presidential elections, but also in regards to congressional and even state legislative and other types of elections, is ridiculously long to the point of being seemingly perpetual, and it needs to be shortened badly. However, at the same time, we must allow the same or greater level of ability of voters to participate in the political process.
Here are some of my ideas for speeding up America’s political process:
- Establish a national primary day for party nominations in federal elections, preferably the Tuesday following the first Monday in September
- Establish a filing deadline for federal races that is four weeks before the national primary for non-incumbents and five weeks before the national primary for incumbents
- Overturn the Citizens United v. FEC U.S. Supreme Court decision by federal constitutional amendment and allow for robust regulations, limits, and restrictions on money in politics
One reason why many voters here in America are burned out by the political process is because campaign season is too long. It’s time to change that.
The Progressive Midwesterner 