This is the text of a proposal for direct popular nomination and election of the President of the United States that I am submitting to the Senators and Representatives of Congress. This proposal is designed to (1) overcome the inequities of the present system of nominating candidates for the presidency, (2) prevent the nomination of unqualified candidates and the election of a president who represents only a narrow regional or ideological constituency, and (3) ensure the People's involvement in every stage of electing a president. The proposal consists of the proposed text of a constitutional amendment and some brief comments on its provisions.

AN AMENDMENT OF THE PROCEDURE FOR ELECTING THE PRESIDENT AND THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The President and the Vice-President of the United States shall be chosen as follows:

Section I. The office of Elector, as defined in Article II, Section 1 of this Constitution, and in Articles 12, 23, and 24 of amendment to it, is hereby abolished. The districts for electing the President and the Vice-president shall be the districts for electing members of the House of Representatives. For the purposes of elections under this article of amendment, the district of government of the United States shall constitute one district for electing the President and the Vice-president.

Section II. No person shall be eligible to be chosen as President or Vice-president who shall be disqualified from serving as President under any provision of this Constitution, or shall not have served at least four years in one or more of the following offices: President or Vice-president of the United States, principal officer of an executive department of the United States, Senator or member of the House of Representatives in the Congress of the United States, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, or chief executive of one of the states.

Section III. On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the third month of the year before the expiration of the President's term of office, the citizens residing in each district shall cast popular votes in an election of candidates for President. In this election each district shall have nine electoral votes, to be distributed as follows: five to the candidate receiving the greatest number of popular votes, three to the candidate receiving the next greatest number of popular votes, and one to the candidate receiving the next greatest number of popular votes.

Section IV. The four candidates receiving the greatest number of electoral votes in the election described in Section III shall be candidates for President in an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in the seventh month of the year before the expiration of the President's term of office. In this election the voters in each district shall cast popular votes in an election of candidates for President, and each district shall have four electoral votes, to be distributed as follows: three to the candidate receiving the greatest number of popular votes, and one to the candidate receiving the next greatest number of popular votes.

Section V. The two candidates receiving the greatest number of electoral votes in the election described in Section IV shall be candidates for president in an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the eleventh month of the year before the expiration of the President's term of office. At least two months before this election each candidate for President shall name a candidate for Vice-President to be joined to the candidate for President on a ticket. In this election the voters of each district shall cast popular votes for the tickets, and each district shall have one electoral vote, to be assigned to the ticket receiving the greatest number of popular votes. The candidates of the ticket receiving the greatest number of electoral votes shall be the President-Elect and the Vice-President-elect.

Section VI. On the first Tuesday after the first Monday of the twelfth month in the year before the expiration of the President's term of office, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States shall assemble in joint session to certify the results of the election described in Section V. If no ticket shall have received a majority of the electoral votes in this election, the Senate and the House of Representatives in joint session shall hold an election of the tickets. In this election each Senator and each member of the House of Representatives shall cast one vote for one of the tickets. The candidates of the ticket receiving the greatest number of votes shall be the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect.

Section VII. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

COMMENTS ON:

Section I. Abolishing electors eliminates the possibility of an elector's voting contrary to the People's will. Electing a president and vice-president by simultaneous elections in each congressional district, instead of by a general direct popular vote, eliminates the possibility of recounts in a single district changing the award of electoral votes in an entire state, or, worse, the possibility of a national recount.

Section II. Limiting the pool of potential candidates to persons who have served in one or more constitutional offices prevents the nomination of someone wholly lacking in the governmental experience needed by a president in today's complex domestic and international environment. Wealthy or charismatic individuals can no longer "head-hunt" the presidency, but must earn the opportunity to serve in that office through prior public service.

Section III. The allotment of electoral votes for finishing second and third in the first-stage national primary favors a candidate with broad nation-wide appeal over one with intense appeal in a limited region. Ranking candidates by their receiving three levels of electoral vote by districts is preferable to ranking candidates by their receiving different numbers of popular votes per individual voter on the basis of that voter's degree of preference for different candidates, as the latter system would be unduly cumbersome in American electoral politics.

Section IV. The number of candidates in the second-stage national primary gives the People a manageable, but wide selection of candidates representing different sets of political beliefs, levels of experience, etc. The four months' spacing between elections gives the Press and appropriate governmental agencies time to investigate the candidates and the People time to get to know them. The date of the second-stage primary is chosen to avoid conflicting with the Fourth of July holiday. The allotment of an electoral vote for a second-place finish again favors a candidate with national appeal over one with purely regional appeal.

Section V. The run-off between the top two candidates gives the People time to scrutinize both them and their choices of a potential successor. It would be unwieldy for the candidates to appoint candidates for the vice-presidency in earlier elections under this article of amendment.

Section VI. The combination of an odd number of congressional districts with the District of Columbia's receiving a number of electoral votes equal to that of the smallest state produces the possibility of a tie between tickets in electoral votes. In a tie the count of popular votes for one ticket would likely be so close to that of the other ticket that the undesirable ordeal of a national recount would be required to resolve the tie in favor of the ticket receiving the greatest popular vote. The breaking of the tie by the nation's five hundred and thirty-five elected legislators would probably be the fairest practical system of tie-breaking.

Section VII. Enabling legislation to bring this article of amendment into effect might include (1) creating a national electoral commission to monitor the elections, (2) stating the means for an eligible person to qualify as a candidate in the election under Section III, (3) establishing limits on donations to, and expenditures by, the candidates in each election, and (4) establishing means for a candidate to nominate a vice-presidential candidate under Section V.

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