Democracy Agenda
Times change – and the way we interpret democracy must adapt to these changes.
Democracy North Carolina advocates for an agenda of desired policy changes for every 2-year legislative cycle. This agenda includes the reforms we believe our state needs in order to address critical challenges and opportunities affecting NC’s democracy. We call these legislative goals our Democracy Agenda.
To make it onto our Democracy Agenda, a goal must pass numerous tests. We first examine the issues surrounding proposed policy changes, including the feasibility of implementation, if it empowers voters and improves accountability of government, if it has been effective elsewhere, the potential effect on voting, implications for related policies and other factors. We also evaluate potential partners for an issue, the resources needed to advocate for a goal and the reform’s chances of becoming real within a set time period. If a goal passes all of these screens, we put it to a final litmus test and ask:
If the answer is yes, then the goal becomes part of our Democracy Agenda.
Our 2009-2010 Democracy Agenda
Here is our Democracy Agenda for campaign finance reform, voting rights, lobbying and ethics reform and related legislative priorities for 2009 (long General Assembly session) and 2010 (short General Assembly session):
EXPAND VOTER-OWNED ELECTIONS
Creating an alternative, “clean” source of funding for candidates is one way that we, the voting public, can reclaim our democracy. North Carolina is a national leader in pioneering voluntary publicly financed programs for candidates. Current programs should be protected and expanded to include other races:
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Council of State (HB586, SB966, SB20): The program that covers the races for Auditor, Supt. of Public Instruction, and Commissioner of Insurance should be expanded to include the other five agency heads on the Council of State (Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, Commissioners of Agriculture and Labor).
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Legislative Pilot Program (SB936, HB1493): The cost of winning a seat in the NC General Assembly is out of reach for most citizens. The legislature should enact a pilot program for House and Senate races that allows candidates who adhere to strict fundraising limits to qualify for public financing of campaigns.
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Local Authorization (HB120): The General Assembly should authorize more cities and counties to sponsor their own public financing programs, using their own funding. Chapel Hill has this authority and will offer public financing in its 2009 election.
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Federal Clean Elections (HR 1826, S752): We support legislation to create viable public financing for federal races.
DISCLOSURE & OPEN GOVERNMENT
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Electronic and better disclosure of contributions to General Assembly candidates, political parties and PAC’s is needed.
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We also should require disclosure of campaign donations and fundraising by large contractors and by the appointees to major policy-making boards.
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Local governments should be required to enact and enforce codes of ethical conduct for local officials.
PROTECT & EXPAND THE RIGHT TO VOTE
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Every voter must be respected and every vote must count.
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Add more “one-stop” voting locations (including on Election Day) and expand early voting hours on weekends.
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Improve the rules for Same-Day Registration, particularly for college students and military personnel.
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Increase the training and testing of poll workers, e.g., on access to provisional ballots.
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Improve administration and education so people convicted of felonies or misdemeanors understand their voting rights.
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Eliminate the widespread confusion caused by not having the office of President included in “straight party” voting on NC’s ballot.
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Restricted polling sites should be banned for early voting.
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Military men and women need better access to the voting process.
INCREASE YOUTH VOTER ENGAGEMENT
Young people ages 18 to 24 continue to register and vote at a low rate. Explore strategies to boost registration and turnout, including possible use of DMV offices and high schools to strengthen civics education, provide a means of advance registration, and engage teenagers in the political process.
CHANGE ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTING
Giving all of a state’s electoral votes to the Presidential candidate who wins by even a slim margin disenfranchises many voters. Change how North Carolina allocates its electoral votes, for example by abolishing the Electoral College or by enacting the National Popular Vote, which awards NC’s electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote nationwide.
CONTINUE INSTANT RUN-OFF VOTING
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Costly, low turnout run-off elections could be eliminated with rank voting or Instant Run-Off Voting (if your first choice is not among the top vote-getters, your vote goes to your second-choice candidate). Third party candidates don’t become “spoilers” because their votes are re-allocated if they do poorly.
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Local governments should try IRV and it should be used in statewide primaries.
All Democracy Agenda Downloads
Winning Same-Day Registration
A Democracy Agenda win requires us to be strategic about how we use research, organizing and advocacy resources. For example, when our research documented that NC ranked among the worst 15 states for voter turnout for the period of 1980–2000, and that 1 million citizens were not even registered to vote, and that barely 2% of young adults knew the cutoff to register was 25 days before Election Day, we knew our state could do better. When we also learned that “Same-Day Registration” in other states had proved effective in increasing turnout, especially among youth and people of color, we decided to make Same Day Registration a priority on our Democracy Agenda.
We began promoting a bill in the NC legislature in 2003 to allow citizens to go to an Early Voting site, show proper identification, then register and vote – all in one day. We gained support from elections officials, mobilized our grassroots Advocates, co-led a 4-year campaign and won passage of a bill allowing Same-Day Registration in 2007! As a result: 253,000 North Carolinians used Same-Day Registration in 2008 and NC ended up ranked in the top 20 states for voter turnout and was the #1 state in the nation for the highest turn-out increase over 2004.
