By. J. Charles “Chuck” Coughlin
If you are reading this, I am confident that you (like me) are nearly totally satisfied with the way our Federal and State Legislative processes are resolving difficult issues so routinely and agreeably – budget deficits, education funding, transportation funding, entitlement reform, etc.
Our American and Arizona systems are the paradigm of success, right? Or as Winston Churchill most famously said:
“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
So, it is in that spirit that I share with you a brilliant essay by my election reform mentor Katherine Gehl. We were happy to host Katherine here in Arizona for a fantastic day of media and meetings in early February. You can see in the link below a brief video summary of that visit, and if you approved of what you saw, we would like to extend an invitation to join www.savedemocracyaz.com.
If I dare to try to summarize Katherine’s thoughts in the attached piece, it would be this: “As the democracy-reform group Unite America calculated, In 2022, 83% of the U.S. House was elected by just 8% of Americans.”
Nearly the same can be said for the majority of Legislative seats here in Arizona.
As Katherine puts forth, the key to reform is to ensure that General Election voters make all of the final decisions as to who wins. If you think that is always the case, I beg you to read on. If you are just curious or riddled with contempt for these ideas, I beg you to read on as well.
As someone who has practiced in the vineyard of Arizona politics for over 30 years, the system is broken and our constitution gives us the right to fix it. I am aiming – with Katherine’s support and the support of www.savdedemocracyaz.com – to do just that.
Thanks for the time. Let me know your thoughts. Here is her recent op-ed for The Bulwark: How ‘Final Five Voting’ Can Help Save Democracy.
Click here to view Katherine’s day in Arizona on February 8th.