To: All Fifty State Governors
Fix Congress with New Citizen Chamber
Congressional gridlock is blocking action on many important issues including Social Security, Medicare, immigration, education, gun control, climate change, and health care. Direct citizen participation in Congress is now possible with Internet voting, similar to adding your name to a MoveOn.org petition.
Why is this important?
In recent decades, Congress too often has underrepresented the interests of the greater majority in favor of minority special interests. These interests can exert an unbalanced influence on legislative agendas, electoral processes, and free media, and they can undermine our democratic ideals. Recent attempts to remedy this situation include changing the filibuster rules in the Senate and campaign finance reform, but they have failed. This illustrates the difficulty of reforming Congress from within. Fortunately, the Constitution provides a method independent of Congress whereby two thirds of the governors may convene a constitutional convention, and three quarters of the states can ratify an amendment to change the Constitution.
Today, citizens have the technology to directly participate in our democracy to an unprecedented degree. We, the petitioners, therefore ask the governors to convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of creating a third, virtual chamber in Congress called the Citizen Chamber (CC).
The CC will have the singular authority of voting on legislation which moves through either the House or the Senate, thereby influencing the outcome of that legislation. Every voter will be able to cast an electronic vote over the Internet on any legislation moving through Congress. In order for the CC to influence a congressional vote, a quorum of one fifth of 1% of registered voters - or about 300,000 votes - must be cast, otherwise the vote in the House or Senate shall remain unchanged. If there is enough citizen interest in a particular bill to achieve the necessary quorum, the ratio of the yea to nay votes in the CC shall multiply the yea votes in the House or Senate, which will then determine the final vote outcome. For citizens without internet access, provisions for voting stations in public high schools will be made available every business day.
The Citizen Chamber will have the capacity to act as a third and independent party, therefore more perfectly reflecting the will of the people in Congress.
Today, citizens have the technology to directly participate in our democracy to an unprecedented degree. We, the petitioners, therefore ask the governors to convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of creating a third, virtual chamber in Congress called the Citizen Chamber (CC).
The CC will have the singular authority of voting on legislation which moves through either the House or the Senate, thereby influencing the outcome of that legislation. Every voter will be able to cast an electronic vote over the Internet on any legislation moving through Congress. In order for the CC to influence a congressional vote, a quorum of one fifth of 1% of registered voters - or about 300,000 votes - must be cast, otherwise the vote in the House or Senate shall remain unchanged. If there is enough citizen interest in a particular bill to achieve the necessary quorum, the ratio of the yea to nay votes in the CC shall multiply the yea votes in the House or Senate, which will then determine the final vote outcome. For citizens without internet access, provisions for voting stations in public high schools will be made available every business day.
The Citizen Chamber will have the capacity to act as a third and independent party, therefore more perfectly reflecting the will of the people in Congress.