As I’ve mentioned in other places, voter apathy is a huge concern and problem for our country. I would argue that it’s just as big a problem as political extremism and that they are two sides of the same coin.
One of the biggest drivers of voter apathy is the never-ending 24/7/365 election cycle. The second an election is over, the pundits are talking about the next election incessantly and the politicians are trying to raise money for the next one.
Voters never get a break, especially when it comes to presidential elections.
The presidential primary schedule is not fair. Why should voters in the early states get to decide which are the best candidates and whittle down the field for the rest of the country, or even worse, decide who a party’s nominee should be long before voters in other states even get to vote?
What I propose is a National Primary Day 6 months before the general election (so early May of the election year). Candidates can take longer to declare they are running, and they would be forced to campaign nationwide, not just in the few early states.
The key to holding this national primary day would be to use ranked choice voting for it so that there would be no need for a run-off. Each party’s winner could then hold a convention if they wanted to sometime during the summer, and face each other in the general election, which would also use ranked choice voting so that independent and 3 party candidates were not viewed as spoilers.
Perry Waag 