The Honest Voter Amendment

The Constitution distinguishes between the states and the District of Columbia, and it authorized only the states to vote for the President, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Therefore, the residents of the District of Columbia were not allowed to vote for the President or the Congress.

In 1961, the 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution enabled the residents of the District of Columbia to vote for the President – but still not for Senators or Representatives.

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

The reason that the Constitution prevented the residents of the District of Columbia from voting is because that would have been such an unhealthy conflict of interest.

The intent was clear, but the mechanism was clumsy and inadequate for the leviathan that is government today, so why not amend the Constitution to let the residents of DC vote, while removing unhealthy conflicts of interest across the nation?

Such an honest voter amendment could lead to very small numbers of voters in some places like the District of Columbia, so let’s also fix the electoral college while we’re at it.

The Honest Voter Amendment:

Only an individual human being may vote.

One may not vote while one voluntarily seeks employment with the government, loans money to the government, borrows from the government, receives a check from the government, or works for a business that sells goods or services to the government.

No American citizen shall be compelled to serve the government, loan money to the government, borrow from government, or work for any business or individual.

States in existence as of the end of 2013 shall retain their original count of senators. A new state or district whose proportion of the nation’s eligible voters is less than one tenth of one percent shall have no Senators. A state or district whose proportion of the nation’s eligible voters is equal to or greater than one tenth of one percent, but less than one half of one percent, shall have one Senator.

If a state is formed by secession of more than 50% of voters from another state, then both parts of the former state shall be considered new states for the purposes of this amendment.

To remedy federal laws and orders that promote extortion, one may not vote if one has attempted to secure employment, promotion, compensation, or any non-mutual transaction, for oneself or as any form of advocate, by having coerced any individual, or organization of individuals, with the threat of government action.