Change how we elect the President
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. However, the term “electoral college” does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to “electors,” but not to the “electoral college.”
Electoral College vs. Popular Vote
Most states will continue to be ignored because of state winner-take-all laws (awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes inside each separate state). More than two thirds of the states are typically ignored during the bulk of a general election campaign. Read More...
More than half of all presidential campaign events will be in a handful of states. Most likely those states will include Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
Instead of a federalized presidential election process, the U.S. Constitution leaves it to each state to choose its method of selecting its presidential electors. Article II says, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors...."
Besides the elimination of the Electoral College in favor of a 1 person = 1 vote system, it is necessary to change who qualifies to even serve. As the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, a president or candidate for president and vice president should have served in the US Armed Forces and must have been discharged honorably. No one who has never served can ever understand the traditions and other intricacies involved in wearing the uniform. It is a matter of respect and honor that no one else can fully comprehend.
The candidate must not have reached their 70th birthday on Inauguration Day.
The candidate must disclose at the time of the filing of their candidacy for president or vice president, any public holdings in addition to their most recent 5 years of personal and business (if applicable) tax returns. In addition, that candidate must divest themselves of all personal and corporate stock holdings with a stock purchase ban imposed for a period of at least five years after the term of their presidency ends.
In light of recent events, we need also to invoke a ban of anyone who has been convicted of a felony to serve as our nation's Commander in Chief. The President of the United States must be held to the absolute highest standards of honor, integrity and character. Yes... character matters!
While we're on the subject of the Electoral College, the primary reason why Republicans have vigorously opposed statehood for Washington, DC is because the vast majority of its 712,816 citizens is African-American and they tend to vote for the Democratic candidate. It is time to grant citizenship to the citizens whose mantra is "taxation without representation". It's not a partisan, political issue; At least it shouldn't be. It's a matter of doing the right thing just because it's the right thing to do regardless of which side of the aisle you sit!
Finally, we need to address is congressional redistricting. Any congressional redistricting changes should be at the approval, by vote of the people impacted by those changes.