Thursday, May 12, 2016

KY Open Our Democracy Act


Congressman John Yarmuth (KY) is the latest to co-sponsor H.R. 2655, the Open Our Democracy Act, a package of reform, designed to empower voters by by enacting Top Two Nonpartisan Primaries for all Congressional elections, making Election Day a National holiday and creating a roadmap for Redistricting reform to end the practice of partisan gerrymandering.

Independent Kentucky has been courting Yarmuth's support for political reform issues like the ones the bill puts forth since 2011 and put out a press release applauding Yarmuth's action.

Michael Lewis and William Bowe of Independent Kentucky first met with the Congressman back then, and in 2012 delivered 2,300 signatures and postcards signed by Kentucky residents in support of these political reform issues.

Voting reform advocate Cassia Herron says, "Across the country, closed partisan primaries exclude millions of independent voters and contribute to the toxic partisanship in Washington, Frankfort and in every state capital across the country. It's past time for us to reform our primary system so that the voters, not the parties, have the power to elect the political leaders we seek to represent us."

Nearly 250,000 Kentucky voters are registered independent voters.

Open Our Democracy Act of 2015

- Requires all candidates for election to the Senate and the House of Representatives to run in an Open Primary, regardless of Political Party preference or lack thereof.

- Limits the ensuing General election to the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in the Open Primary.

- Gives candidates the option, at the time of filing to run for office, to declare a Political Party preference, which does not constitute or imply endorsement of the candidate by the Party designated.

- Treats the General election day in the same manner as a legal public holiday for purposes of Federal employment.

- Xpresses the sense of Congress that private employers should give their employees a day off on the General Election day in November 2016 and each even-numbered year thereafter to enable them to cast votes in elections held on that day.

- Directs the Government Accountability Office to study the procedures used by states to conduct Congressional Redistricting.

I wonder if the Supreme Court would require a private entity, that State Political Party's say they are, to have to select their candidates in an Open Primary? What happens to state's that select by Caucuses? Or, what will stop a State Political Party to decide to select by Private Convention and pay for it.

Rand Paul did this in Kentucky, by getting the Presidential election changed to a Caucus. He paid for it by giving the party money, getting the other candidates to pay a $15,000 fee, and holding Party fundraisers.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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