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Introduce secret ballot into Congress to loosen the grip of party & reduce gridlock [1]

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Date: 2023-01-06  

[1] As Kevin McCarthy endures the well deserved torture of repeated rejection (I would hate to be his psychiatrist)… would a secret ballot elect Hakeem Jeffries? Or would Democrats prefer McCarthy to the much worse alternative of Steve Scalise?

[2] It seems logical to me to change the rules in both Senate and House to allow votes to be secret on all matters so as to allow members to vote for good ideas rather than routinely turn down excellent ideas because their party tells them not to. This would apply in committees also. Or is this a thoroughly bad idea?

[3] Maybe the secret ballot should be reserved for special purposes and hedged about with protections. The main argument against it is that voters would like to hold representatives accountable. Another argument would be that representatives might vote for truly reprehensible things. Most representatives are wealthy and if they vote for their own interests then there might be some horrible results. On the other hand, a truly secret ballot would kill lobbyists, not a bad idea...

[4] Campaign finance reform is desperately needed to reduce the influence of big money. But it gets defeated again and again… by big money. Why is this not a campaign issue ? Duhhh… I guess… big money.

[5] How about secret ballot in committees? How about allowing a secret ballot to force the Speaker or Majority Leader to let certain measures to be voted on, to take away too much power concentrated on the Speaker or Majory Leader?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/6/2145714/-Introduce-secret-ballot-into-Congress-to-loosen-the-grip-of-party-reduce-gridlock

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