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Howie Hawkins on Government Reform
Green Party Challenger for President
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Universal voter registration; statehood for DC
- Enact a national "right to vote" law or constitutional amendment to guarantee universal, automatic, permanent voter registration.
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Enact statehood for the District of Columbia.
- Restore full citizenship rights to felons upon completion of their sentence, including the right to vote.
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Make Election Day a national holiday and/or have weekend elections.
- Enact proportional representation voting systems for legislative seats on municipal, county, state and federal levels.
- Proportional representation systems provide that
people are represented in the proportion their views are held in society and are based on dividing seats proportionally within multi-seat districts, compared to the standard U.S. single-seat, winner-take all districts.
Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
, Jul 12, 2020
Open debates to third parties on sufficient ballots
- Eliminate all ballot access laws and rules that discriminate against smaller parties and independents, and otherwise place undue burden on the right of citizens to run for office.
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Create a publicly-funded People's Commission on Presidential Debates, and open debates to all candidates who appear on as many ballots as would represent a majority of the
Electoral College and who raise enough funds to otherwise qualify for general election public financing.
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Any candidate who refuses to participate in such debates would lose public financing.
Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
, Jul 12, 2020
Impeach Trump Now
Democratic leaders say impeaching Trump would be divisive. But Trump divides the country every day with his racist tropes and incitements to violence. Trump has a 40-year rap sheet of corporate and personal crimes, followed by crimes and abuses of
power since the day he became president. The Republicans would have impeached Obama instantly for any of Trump's transgressions. What are the Democrats waiting for? We don't have to wait to 2020 to get rid of Trump. Impeach Trump now!
Source: Declaration of Candidacy for the Green Party Nomination
, May 28, 2019
Voter suppression policies need to be reversed
We do not have real political democracy, let alone economic democracy. To have a democratic society, we need to restructure government and elections. Voter suppression policies need to be reversed, starting with restoring the pre-clearance provisions of
the Civil Rights Act. We would put in place automatic voter registration, same-day registration, extended voting days, Election Day as a National Holiday, and other reforms, including mandatory voting (vote or pay a moderate fine) as practiced in
Australia, Belgium, and much of Latin America, with a None of the Above option that would trigger a new election if it wins.Ordinary people have little power over the government decisions that affect their lives. In addition to improving the
elections to representative offices, we will campaign for a participatory direct democracy at the base of society. We will campaign for a grassroots democracy based on community assemblies open to all citizens like New England Town Meetings.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowieHawkins.us
, May 19, 2019
Broadcast debates for all ballot-qualified candidates
Hawkins supports the following principles regarding campaign finance and government reform.- Support public taxpayer funding for federal candidates who comply with campaign spending limits.
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Require Section 527 organizations to register with the Federal Election Commission as Political Action Committees.
- Q: Do you support instant run-off voting?
A: Yes. -
Q: Should Election Day be a national holiday?
A: Yes. - Hawkins adds, "Proportional Representation. DC Statehood. Abolish the Electoral College.
Public Verifiable Voting with a paper trail for recounts. Candidate debates for all ballot-qualified candidates carried by broadcast media as a condition of their FCC licenses."
Source: 2006 Congressional National Political Awareness
, Nov 1, 2006
Supports publicly financed campaigns
Q: What does Hawkins think of campaign finance reform?A: Supports campaign finance reforms and Publicly Financed Campaigns to allow regular working people to get into office, not corporate-financed candidates.
Source: Email interview on 2006 Senate race with OnTheIssues.org
, Aug 1, 2006
Abolish the Electoral College; support IRV
Abolish the Electoral College-Direct election of the President by majority vote through Instant Run-Off Voting. Proportional Representation in Congress-Representation for each party in proportion to the vote it receives.
Source: 2006 Senate campaign website, hawkinsforsenate.org, “Issues”
, Jun 30, 2006
Senators for 20% can block bills favored by 80%
The most persuasive argument in favor of ditching the Senate is in Thomas Geoghegan's book, The Secret Lives of Citizens., Geoghegan calculates that 41 senators representing about 10% of the population can block a bill favored by 60 senators
representing about 90% of the population. Howie Hawkins, a Green Party USA candidate for Congress in New York, figured 20% of the population can block legislation favored by 80% of the population-but the point remains the same.
Source: Slate.com e-zine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Nov 2, 2000
Page last updated: Apr 29, 2021