Occupiers, Tea Party members, actually most Americans feel that somehow our democracy is not working. The ultimate goals that each of us want certainly differ. It\u2019s difficult to quantify where the American people stand on particular issues, and who are public officials who can truly represent their interests.<\/p>\n
The adage, \u201cIf it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t try to fix it\u201d certainly does not apply to our current political system. We desperately need to try to reform our system. Any change runs the risk of the law of unintended consequences.<\/p>\n
There is at least one group that is doing more than talking about electoral reform; they are implementing it. The organization Americans Elect<\/a> is proposing a new way for us to elect or national leaders.<\/p>\n The organization describes itself as \u201ca second process, not a third party. It is a brand new way all voters can participate in selecting a presidential ticket to be placed on the November 2012 ballot in 50 states.\u201d<\/p>\n Based on direct democracy and citizen power, Americans Elect is an on-line venue for individuals to express their views on a variety of domestic and international issues and to look for candidates who best represent their views. In January, 2012, five months before the June nominating \u201cconvention,\u201d there are already 2,370,000 citizens who have joined the ranks. Not beholden to the archaic party rules that dictate procedure in caucuses and primaries, Americans Elect will truly be a direct democracy. An individual can be at his or her keyboard and select who he or she wants to be the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and then it is recorded at a central processing station with the returns based on the clear logic of one person \u2013 one vote.<\/p>\n <\/a>The idea of on-line voting may send chills ups and down the spines of certain individual who feel that hackers may be able to corrupt the system and manipulate the returns. The leaders of Americans Elect have two responses to this concern.<\/p>\n