The Association to Improve Government, in its Mission Statement, expresses the objective to require secret ballot voting by all political bodies at all levels of government. This concept is described in more detail in its Position Paper outlining the concept and how this change would eliminate political corruption.
The initial reaction of most individuals, when presented with this idea, is fairly consistent.
It is typically expressed in the following key points:
1. The electorate has the right to know how their elected representatives vote on any issue.
2. Knowing their voting record will allow individuals to decide whether to support them in the next election.
3. Politicians must be held accountable.
4. Secret ballot at the governmental level would hide this knowledge from the electorate.
5. We can’t trust politicians.
The existing political process operates accordingly and all political levels of government have an open ballot procedure for almost all issues brought to a vote. This is a generally accepted principle for all democratic governments on a global basis.
The Association’s position is that this specific aspect of the governmental process actually causes most of the problems that the electorate abhor about politics. This opinion is based on well-understood principles of human nature and are especially connected to the subject of Group Dynamics.
There is little doubt that today’s society is disenchanted with politics at a global level. This paper is aimed at highlighting the pros and cons of the issue of secret vs open ballot in all political bodies and suggest a solution that will improve government at local, state, national and global levels.
To Trust or Not to Trust, that is the Question
The initial reaction by, the general public, to requiring all political bodies to vote by secret ballot on all issues is that if we did this, we would need to “Trust our representatives”.
The Association to Improve Government does not trust politicians, special interest groups, influence peddlers or anyone who would strive to exercise their power to coerce or corrupt the decisions of governments anywhere. To that end, we see the secret ballot requirement as the only way to eliminate this immorality in government.
If all votes by governing bodies were carried out by secret ballot:
1. Representatives could not sell their vote to these questionable organizations or be forced to bend to the will of these power brokers as no one would not be able to prove they conformed.
2. These special interest groups would not be able to verify they “got what they paid for” and would therefore not be in a position to pressure representatives and control the outcome of votes.
3. Both of the above immoral actions were commonplace before secret ballot became the law of the land at the public election level and they are virtually non-existent in today’s election process.
It is the fact that nobody trusts any elements of the current day political process that makes secret ballot so important to eliminate the corruption and questionable actions in our society.
Today, open balloting at the governmental level continues to allow powerful people and special interest groups to control government. The Association to Improve Government would like to change this by establishing a movement that will require secret balloting for all political bodies at all levels of government.
You can be part of the solution. Visit the Improve Government website, review the concept and join the Association to Improve Government.