Change who gets in, and what they can do there

WHAT IT CHANGES

5 changes. Anything underneath one of them is supporting detail, not another change.

1. 01

   One open primary ballot for every voter

   Every candidate on it, no party gate, and the top two go to November. You check every candidate you'd accept rather than picking just one.

   THE FOUR TESTS ANY PRIMARY SYSTEM HAS TO PASS

   Rather than argue about plumbing, state the requirements:

   1. 1.Everyone votes in the election that actually decides the seat. In a safe district, the primary is the election.
   2. 2.Supporting one candidate can never hurt another you'd also accept. No vote-splitting.
   3. 3.The winner holds a real majority, not a plurality of a divided field.
   4. 4.A voter can understand it standing in line, on the equipment we already own.

   WHY AN APPROVAL BALLOT

   Test 2 is the one conventional ballots fail, and failing it is why California once sent two Republicans to a November ballot in a district where half the voters chose Democrats — and why parties now clear their own fields to prevent it. An approval primary passes all four; St. Louis has run one since 2021. It's the best answer available, and it has never been tried above the city level. Ranked-choice is not the recommendation here: the measured effect on polarization is thin, and Alaska already nearly repealed its version once, with another repeal vote pending.

2. 02

   Someone other than the politicians draws the districts

   Right now the people who run in a district get to draw it, which is why so few seats are ever in doubt. Hand the job to a citizen commission — no politicians or lobbyists, members drawn by lottery, and no map adopted without votes from Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. States that do this end up with roughly three times as many competitive seats.

   WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE

   Michigan drew its thirteen commissioners by lottery from 9,367 applications. Measured across the country, independent processes produce a median of 15.0% competitive seats against 5.7% for maps drawn by legislators — the largest measured effect of any reform in this platform.

3. 03

   Index funds only, while in office

   Members, spouses, and children hold broad-market funds, Treasuries, and a home. Nothing they can move with a vote, a hearing, or a phone call.

4. 04

   Any bill with real bipartisan support gets a recorded vote

   Leadership loses the power to kill a popular bill by never scheduling it. Members lose the ability to hide.

5. 05

   Miss the budget deadline and the whole chamber is up for re-election

   Not at the next scheduled election — immediately. Funding continues automatically in the meantime, so there's no shutdown and no hostages. Failing at the one job becomes the one thing that can cost you the job.

   THE HONEST CATCH

   The automatic-funding half is pure statute and already has a bipartisan bill in Congress. The immediate-re-election half would take a constitutional amendment, since House terms are fixed at two years by Article I. This is the single largest feasibility problem in the platform, and it is stated plainly rather than glossed over.