A “what if” idea recently popped into my head while chaperoning my granddaughter’s 4th grade Rancho Novato field trip to the California State Capital.
Prior to the trip I had been wondering how our State and Federal Congressional representatives might do their jobs unencumbered by big money donors and political action committees that circumvent the will of the people, compromise our trust in the democratic process, and make us feel our vote has little to no value.
As I sat in the upstairs gallery of the State Assembly and looked down at the 80 representatives’ desks I noticed that on the upper right corner of each of their desks were three little buttons for voting their decision on each ballot.
Green: Yea. Red: Nay. Yellow: Abstain.
Our Capital guide told us that, “When a button is pressed it immediately flashes on the big LED display screen for all to see…”
“For all to see?” I wondered, “Don’t you mean, ‘for all the big moneyed interests who donate funds to support campaigns, junkets and livelihoods?’”
That’s when the “what if?” popped into my head:
What if representatives in both houses of Congress voted on all bills by secret ballot, just like you and me?
I checked out Wikipedia when I got home: “The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter’s choices in an election or a referendum is anonymous, forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote buying.
“The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy.”
Wouldn’t secret balloting give our representatives the privacy they need instead of feeling or being obligated to vote for whatever they had promised to donor organizations, political action committees, corporations, private patrons or lobbyists?
What would happen if these donors were no longer able to peek under the booth to observe and dictate how their legislators voted?
At the very least there would be a tectonic shift in how campaigns are financed when money can no longer buy votes.
Why would any donor want to be financially involved if there were no way to hold their representative’s feet to the fire?
How could a representative be accountable if they had promised to vote one way, but in the confines of their own conscience and a secret ballot booth they could vote the opposite?
Of course representatives who are heavily beholden to individual moneyed donors might suddenly find themselves abandoned by their benefactors.
Current assumptions regarding the reportedly strong influence of the NRA and other prominent special interest lobbies that seem to have an inordinate amount of power over their representatives would be put to the test.
Would final tallies on, say, basic women’s right to their own bodies, be different than the era we might call “before secret ballot”?
On a more positive note, with our reps no longer beholden to monied interests, the issues, not the highest bidder, would be the major factor in any debate.
An example: Instead of watching big pharma and health insurance lobbies whittle away at any national health plan, similar to Canadian, British and other first-world nations, put up a comprehensive National Health Service (NHS), a.k.a. “Universal Health” bill that covers everyone in the United States.
Then vote on it via secret ballot.
Another example: Instead of today’s process of letting full-time employers get away with hiring short-term employees so that they don’t have to pay for benefits, and letting employers hire only contract workers, immediately open up a separate “NHS Savings Account” (through secret ballot) wherein we set aside 1 penny for every dollar paid to any full- or part-time worker.
Then vote on it via secret ballot.
At the end of the debate year we will have saved over $3 billion that would go towards the development a National Health Service that has eluded intelligent debate due to the dictates of powerful interests.
Finally: Draft a strong gun-control bill, a women’s rights bill and other societally conscious bills that customarily get axed by bought-and-paid-for representatives.
Then vote on them via secret ballot.
Something like this will never see the light of day if healthcare special interests are still wielding their power with an estimated $4 billion annual buy-a-vote funds.
Looking at the evolution of the indentured voter problem, it seems that our State and Federal Congresses are caught up in a systemic problem regarding campaign finance that was unforeseen by our forefathers.
So Instead of trying to eliminate the likes of Citizens United, billionaire donors and lobby firms that all have a “neo” agenda in one form or another, “what if” we modify the Congressional Rules of Order that would protect the integrity of congressional balloting through secret balloting.
Who knows? Maybe we can finally ditch John Adams’ greatest fear – the polarized two-party system in favor of the alternative: an American system.
Where to start?
The process is the solution.
It should begin with secret ballot voting for one and all.