Building Better Election Habits

How to fix the Primary System.

Habits can be good or bad. We can cultivate good habits like exercising and eating right or bad habits like smoking or biting our nails. The ability to build good habits and avoid building bad habits is a recipe for success.

I am a habitual person. Once I build a habit, I struggle to break it. I typically build a new habit to replace it. When I was younger, I developed this habit of hitting my hip with my hand while I was walking. Such a strange thing. I never really noticed until someone at work pointed it out. Then, I couldn’t help but notice. I struggled to stop.

In order to stop, I carried a pen in my hand as much as possible. It acted as a fidget spinner of sorts. I would open and close the cap constantly. When I didn’t have the pen, I hit my hip, and I would say in my head, “Stop.” One time, I accidentally hit my hip with the pen; that was painful. Eventually, I stopped, and I was able to put the pen down.

As I got older I wanted to try that eating healthy and exercising thing. So, I carved out time every day to work out and blocked off weekend time to meal prep. Somedays would get away from me, and I wouldn’t work out. I didn’t let it discourage me; I just said to myself, I will get back on it tomorrow. And I did. Once the habit was built, it was hard to miss. Then I became a little addict, running 3-5 miles a day along with doing whatever exercise program my wife was on, CrossFit, P90x, or BeachBody.

I’ve since replaced the working out habit with reading. One day, I would like to get to a place in my life where I have time for both, but for now, this is a choice I have made. The reading habit, however, has led me on this journey for reform. America desperately needs congressional reform to tackle the problems of representation, incentives, and balance of power.

Having positive incentives helps us build good habits. Our current election system is full of incentives that create bad habits. The structure for winning elections is currently configured to encourage the wrong people to win office. So, year after year, we are investing in a bad habit that needs to be reformed.

The place to start is in primary elections. The current primary system incentivizes fundraising, celebrity, and availability, which leads unqualified representatives to victory. Much talk has been on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), an electoral system that allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than voting for a single candidate.

I see a lot of merit in RCV, but I do not think RCV alone is enough. Below, I share my vision of a congressional primary structure that would incentivize the right leaders to victory.

My idea stems from four years of studying American history, political theory, and the electoral system, with a focus on how our Constitution is designed to unite us by communicating our differences. However, over time, elections have shifted into partisan battles for control, creating division through dissent. I’ve volunteered for local candidates from both parties and participated in a Congressional primary in 2022 that used RCV, giving me firsthand experience with the potential and challenges of election reforms.

July 4th, 2021

The first question we must ask ourselves when building an election structure is what qualities should be emphasized. Congressional Representatives are like our government's customer service representatives. They are responsible for listening to our concerns and informing us about government action. When we have a problem, it’s them who we go to speak with.

A successful representative is one who knows about America and the Constitution and has a strong relationship with their district. If we want representatives like this to win office, we must create a structure that is focused on communication. The best way to communicate is to be in the same room as those you’re trying to communicate with.

During the primary season, each political party should organize weekly town halls, and each candidate would be required to attend. I would recommend three town halls a week at three different locations within the district. (This is because the districts are so large, and having multiple town halls across the district makes it easier for the voters.) The candidates would engage in a back-and-forth with each other and the voters. It would be recorded and uploaded to YouTube and Substack.

Consistency makes everything easier, and it benefits both the candidates and voters. It would encourage candidates who are the most knowledgeable of their constituents and their roles the best opportunity for victory. It will lessen the grind of a campaign. Instead of driving all over and knocking on doors trying to build a primary base, the candidate would have a set schedule to engage with their voter base. This will make it easier for candidates with busy family schedules to run and voters to participate.

In a primary season that is three months, voters will have 39 opportunities to meet all the candidates. If they cannot attend, they can watch it on YouTube or listen to it on Spotify.

To be placed on the primary ballot, candidates must raise enough money (a fixed amount to be determined by the party) to help pay for the campaign and election. Let’s say it costs $50,000 to put on a primary election, and five are on the ballot; they would each have to raise $10k to gain ballot access. Parties should set a minimum number of candidates for election and then recruit candidates to run. This would limit overspending while encouraging competition.

Fundraising during the primary is allowed, but spending is limited to the general election other than to gain ballot access. The party would be responsible for getting the word out about the primary election. This lowers the cost of entry but also creates a benchmark. You can’t buy a primary, and not every person with a passing interest can come up with 10k.

The voter must register with the party to vote in the primary election and attend or listen to at least one town hall. Verifying attendance is easy, but verifying listeners poses a challenge. Before voting, the voter would need to select which town hall they listened to and then take a short questionnaire to verify if they listened. The candidate would be responsible for attending all the town halls, engaging with the other candidates and voters, and fundraising for the election.

On election day, voters would use RCV to rank each candidate on the ballot (1st choice, 2nd choice, etc.) If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they are declared the winner. If no candidate gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who chose the eliminated candidate as their first choice will have their votes reallocated to their next preferred candidate. This process repeats until a candidate receives a majority of the votes.

In addition, this process could be done by the current parties or any new parties. General election ballots should allow ballot access to party candidates that complete the party primary process. If the two parties use the primary process to exclude groups of people, they will have the opportunity to compete in the general by forming a new party and completing the primary process. New parties would need to have at least 65% of participation as the established parties. This means that if the Republicans had 20,000 voters, a new party would need 13,000. This ensures competition without diluting votes.

This process incentivizes communication and competition and creates the space for it to happen. It builds structure to reinforce positive habits, helping to form better candidates and primary voters. It’s time for us to demand better habits in politics—starting with meaningful reform in our primary system.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let me know by leaving a comment or sending me an email. 

Peace & Love,

Jeff Mayhugh