James R
11-07-2007, 01:13 AM
Since joining the Ron Paul website, I've come to love the idea of a small but very vocal minority winning over an apathetic majority who don't really care that much or know much of anything about who they are actually voting for. The following form election system aims to elect the candidate that has the strongest overall desire for them to be in office.
1. The candidate who has the most minutes wins. (There are no votes.)
2. Anyone can get an unlimited number of minutes. To get a minute, you work unpaid for any non-profit organization(s) of your choice and dedicate that minute to their choice of candidates. Many minutes would likely be earned by working on that candidates election campaign, which is fine.
3. Minutes must be dedicated ahead of time or they do not count. This is to prevent people from saving up votes for something they are particularly passionate about. The system is already something that allows them to get a bigger say if they so desire without doing that. It would be like saying "I am very enthusiastic about something, but I don't know what yet.". If the minute is not pre-dedicated then it is weaker evidence of true support and enthusiasm.
4. So, if you have worked 2 unpaid hours for a non-profit organization and choose to dedicate those minutes to Ron Paul for example, you tally 120 minutes to Ron Paul's election.
5. The minutes are weighted by income. So, if it turns out that the people earning 1/2 the average income can only afford to donate 1/2 the total minutes because they are busy trying to earn money to stay alive, then they will receive 2 minutes for each one minute they volunteer. I think we can be broken into 12 income groups. This way, each income group is assured an equal voice in the election.
Definition of non-profit organization:
The organization owners may have no ability or minimal ability to earn money using the organization. If they recieve a salary from the organization, it may not exceed that of the average salary for their state. The minimum number of employees for each organization is 24. This prevents people from doing yardwork in their back yard and counting it as "non-profit organization volunteer work". "Voters" must register to work for at least one non-profit organization. That may sound like forced labor, but the election campaign of whoever they support will always be an option for them. Additionally, there will be "None of the above" organizations allowed in case all the candidates are bad or corrupt. People may register for either specific organizations OR for entire groups of organizations. Each organization classifies itself into a group. Each organization must register in each community it intends to get help from. It must specify what work skills it wants in each community. An organization must be around at least a year with 24 volunteers or employees before registering in any community. If an organization fails to use the most of those who have registered to help it when that help is available, then it will be dropped from the community registry.
Details of working:
You register your skills in a database in a way where your privacy is protected. If no non-profit organization that you are registered to help with asks you for help, then you are guaranteed a minimum of the average number of minutes donated for that specific election. In this way people who are handicapped or are simply bad employees will still have an equal election voice overall. Work done may not be done in a way that directly increases the financial well-being of the workers, but of course may increase the financial well-being of others. A database of non-profit organizations will be available so that one can actively seek to donate hours in the name of their favored candidate.
Minor issues:
For more minor issues and candidates, a very small amount of time is all that is needed. For example probably a couple minutes of time in voting on a parking ordinance to get the average number of votes. Therefore, for minor issues you don't have to worry about working for an hour to vote on a parking ordinance. Computer estimates would guide us in how much time people will put into each item so we can know how long to work to cast the vote.
Wasteless minutes:
The minutes voting uses a run-off system to prevent the illusion of a wasted minute. When one dedicates their minutes to a candidate, they also dedicate to an unlimited number of alternative candidates. If their dedicated candidate does not get the most minutes, their minutes automatically go to the next person on the list.
1. The candidate who has the most minutes wins. (There are no votes.)
2. Anyone can get an unlimited number of minutes. To get a minute, you work unpaid for any non-profit organization(s) of your choice and dedicate that minute to their choice of candidates. Many minutes would likely be earned by working on that candidates election campaign, which is fine.
3. Minutes must be dedicated ahead of time or they do not count. This is to prevent people from saving up votes for something they are particularly passionate about. The system is already something that allows them to get a bigger say if they so desire without doing that. It would be like saying "I am very enthusiastic about something, but I don't know what yet.". If the minute is not pre-dedicated then it is weaker evidence of true support and enthusiasm.
4. So, if you have worked 2 unpaid hours for a non-profit organization and choose to dedicate those minutes to Ron Paul for example, you tally 120 minutes to Ron Paul's election.
5. The minutes are weighted by income. So, if it turns out that the people earning 1/2 the average income can only afford to donate 1/2 the total minutes because they are busy trying to earn money to stay alive, then they will receive 2 minutes for each one minute they volunteer. I think we can be broken into 12 income groups. This way, each income group is assured an equal voice in the election.
Definition of non-profit organization:
The organization owners may have no ability or minimal ability to earn money using the organization. If they recieve a salary from the organization, it may not exceed that of the average salary for their state. The minimum number of employees for each organization is 24. This prevents people from doing yardwork in their back yard and counting it as "non-profit organization volunteer work". "Voters" must register to work for at least one non-profit organization. That may sound like forced labor, but the election campaign of whoever they support will always be an option for them. Additionally, there will be "None of the above" organizations allowed in case all the candidates are bad or corrupt. People may register for either specific organizations OR for entire groups of organizations. Each organization classifies itself into a group. Each organization must register in each community it intends to get help from. It must specify what work skills it wants in each community. An organization must be around at least a year with 24 volunteers or employees before registering in any community. If an organization fails to use the most of those who have registered to help it when that help is available, then it will be dropped from the community registry.
Details of working:
You register your skills in a database in a way where your privacy is protected. If no non-profit organization that you are registered to help with asks you for help, then you are guaranteed a minimum of the average number of minutes donated for that specific election. In this way people who are handicapped or are simply bad employees will still have an equal election voice overall. Work done may not be done in a way that directly increases the financial well-being of the workers, but of course may increase the financial well-being of others. A database of non-profit organizations will be available so that one can actively seek to donate hours in the name of their favored candidate.
Minor issues:
For more minor issues and candidates, a very small amount of time is all that is needed. For example probably a couple minutes of time in voting on a parking ordinance to get the average number of votes. Therefore, for minor issues you don't have to worry about working for an hour to vote on a parking ordinance. Computer estimates would guide us in how much time people will put into each item so we can know how long to work to cast the vote.
Wasteless minutes:
The minutes voting uses a run-off system to prevent the illusion of a wasted minute. When one dedicates their minutes to a candidate, they also dedicate to an unlimited number of alternative candidates. If their dedicated candidate does not get the most minutes, their minutes automatically go to the next person on the list.