Speeding up the Presidential Election Process ( Archived) (8)

At the last local national election an American friend was touring my country during the entire period and mentioned to me that they hated that their own election was so long winded.

Since then I have heard a lot of American's say the same kind of statement. I hear statements like 'thank God it's almost over' a lot from Americans on the internet.

So if you also hate the current election system and could speed up the process from start to finish to have it all over in a short time then how would you do it? What changes would you make?

Totally eliminate the U.S. Electoral College thing, and let the people vote directly for who they wanted, instead of having poor choices foisted on us. Limit each of the two conventions to one day, including media analysis. Make it easier for Independents to be on the ballot, instead of having a two-party system of same-o, same-o.

Some very interesting points and a lot of them I have heard Americans say before. How would the major parties choose who would run then? Would you suggest sitting members of congress choose for their own party who they would stand, similar to how parliamentary systems choose the party leader? Then the public choose the president from amongst the choices offered as per normal. How would minor parties and independants get onto the list? How would your neighbour get on the list if they wanted to stand as an independant nominee?

Let the Dems, Repubs, and Independents have their own conventions if they so wish, and be on the ballot, but the people could vote for other choices if they chose (there would have to be a cutoff date of some kind so last minute additions couldn't be made. They would need time to print the ballots.) However, there would be no electoral college. The number of votes for each secondary candidate would be the popular vote they got fot that particular state (no electoral college, remember). What irks me is Joe Blow wins 60% of the vote in a state, so he gets 100% of the electoral votes for that state. That's not fair, because 40% voted against him. That's why I think the electoral college should be eliminated, and the popular vote should prevail. That would make us a direct democracy instead of a Republic. In any local or state election, referendum, or initiative, the actual vote count is used to determine the winner. If it works for those votes, then why not do the same on a national level?

Do you remember when Dewey was running for President? The popular vote was vastly in his favor, but the electoral votes didn't go in his favor.

and how would you handle the Nomination Process?