Article. II. Proposed Revision, Year 2016
Section. 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America, who shall hold the Office, together with the Vice President, for the same Term of six Years.
The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of the January following a Presidential election, and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Before they enter on the Execution of their Office, they shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President (or Vice President) of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
In Case of the Removal of a President from Office, or of a President's Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President.
These are the qualifications of the offices of President and Vice President, and any who do not meet all of the qualifications shall not be included on ballots or be eligible for election or appointment.
A candidate must communicate in American English, and must be a living human person, at least 40 years of age upon inauguration.
A candidate is required to have been born to at least one parent who was at the time a citizen of the United States.
A candidate must have resided as a documented United States citizen for 20 years or longer, in the states, or District of Columbia, or abroad in the service of the United States.
A candidate is required to have served as an elected member of Congress, an elected Governor of a state, or in both offices, for a total of at least four years, before February 1 of the Presidential election year.
A President may not be elected to more than one term, and all votes cast for a previously elected President and any running mates shall be disregarded.
A person who serves an abbreviated time as President shall not be elected or appointed President or Vice President for the beginning of the next term, but after an interval of 3 years out of these offices, the person may again become President or Vice President if previous time as President totaled less than 3 years.
A person who is serving as President may not be a candidate for any office, and may not participate in election campaigns for any candidate or party.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during his or her Term, and the President shall not receive during that Term any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Section. 1.A.
Election of the President
The word "state," where included in these rules for election of a President, refers to the states and to the District of Columbia.
Summary of election process:
Presidential candidates must collect voter signatures for ballot access in each state. A First Round vote will select four candidates in each state to advance, and their votes will be tallied nationally. The top four in the national tally will become finalist candidates, who will select running mates to form candidate tickets. The four tickets will appear on the second round ballot, upon which a voter may vote for up to two tickets, in all states on Presidential Election Day. A number of bonus votes will be generated for the winner of each state, and added to the popular vote, and the ticket receiving the most votes shall become President and Vice President.
Government resources shall not be used to facilitate party primaries or caucuses during a Presidential election year, nor shall party events be used instead of either round of the Presidential election.
Citizens aged eighteen years and older, in good legal standing, may register to vote as a declared member of whatever party they may choose, or as an independent voter.
For any candidate to be eligible for the First Round vote, petition signatures must be collected, starting March 20 of the previous year, and submitted to state authorities before March 20 of the election year, and the candidate must communicate to the state election authority, during the election year and before April 1, a request for ballot access.
A valid petition must have one candidate's name at the top of every page, and must have at least two hundred dated signatures, printed names, addresses, city, and county of registered voters of the state.
States will, if possible, include on the First Round ballot five eligible candidates, one each selected by the five most popular parties in the state before the 1st of April, with party popularity determined by voter registration. States will also include the remaining eligible candidates having the most petition signatures, regardless of party, with the total number of first round candidates on a state ballot not to exceed 25. States may, by law, set a lower numerical limit to apply to all first round candidates, but such a limit shall be no fewer than 10. Party affiliation of any candidate shall not be indicated on the ballot.
Ties for ballot access will be broken by coin toss or other means of determining a random selection.
First Round ballots shall not include a write-in option. If there is some unavoidable disaster, and proper ballot forms are not available, a write-in vote for an eligible ballot candidate shall count, and a vote for a non-ballot candidate shall not count.
American English ballots will be used in all states. States are permitted, but shall not be required, to also provide ballots in other languages.
Ballot access fees are prohibited.
The First Round Election is to be held in every state and the District of Columbia on the Tuesday following the first Monday in June. Absentee ballots shall be made available before May 12. Voters must request absentee ballots from their state or county of residence. Citizens not registered to vote in the states, who are abroad with the military, may not vote in the First Round Election, but may register with the military and vote on Presidential Election Day.
Voters may vote for 0, 1, or 2 candidates. One ballot indicating three or more votes shall be counted as zero votes.
The four eligible candidates, or possibly more in case of a tie, receiving the most votes in each state in the First Round election will have their number of votes from that state, if the number is one thousand or more, advance to the national first round tally. Votes for other candidates will not advance.
If the candidates receiving the least number of votes to be advanced should tie, as in two or more candidates tied for fourth, or three tied for third, or two tied for first and three tied for second, there may be more than four candidates whose votes will advance, as these tied candidates will all advance, but they shall not advance if there are four candidates who received a higher number of votes.
Completed absentee ballots must be sent before First Round election day, and if so sent, and if received before noon on the Tuesday following the second Monday in June, shall be counted. Absentee ballots received after that time shall not be counted.
Each State's First Round Count must be completed and reported to the Congress or designated Federal authority, before noon in the state capital time zone, on the Friday following the 3rd Monday in June.
The National First Round Tally is to be made complete and official by the Congress before the end of business on June 30.
The four candidates having received the highest number of votes in the national first round tally, now called Finalist candidates, will advance to the October Presidential election.
If the candidates receiving the least number of votes to be advanced should tie, as in two or more candidates tied for 4th, or three or more tied for 3rd, there may be more than four finalist candidates as these tied candidates shall all advance, but they shall not advance if there are four finalist candidates who received more votes.
After results of the National First Round Tally are official, and before August 1, candidates shall make known their official choice of running mates, whose names shall also appear on the Presidential Election ballot, and shall be elected with the Presidential candidate. If a running mate is not chosen before August 1, any running mate then chosen would be unofficial, and ineligible to be elected, and would have to be formally nominated after the election. A Presidential finalist may not in the same election also be a running mate. A running mate may only run with one Presidential finalist per election.
Americans of all states and the District of Columbia will vote for President on the third Monday in October. This Presidential Election Day shall be a national holiday, except for government workers necessary for the election. Voters must vote in person, with identification if required by the state, at a designated polling place. Absentee ballots are prohibited.
States will ensure sufficient printing of ballots, and enough polling places with ample capacity for voters. Responsible state and local officials, not to exclude Governors, must follow orders of Federal courts concerning preparations for elections, and may be prosecuted on a Federal charge for an action, or lack of minimal reasonable diligence, that infringes upon the right of citizens to vote.
Anyone who casts votes for President on more than one ballot in the same election shall be subject to a felony charge.
The Federal government shall provide voter registration and polling for citizens serving the United States abroad, and shall count and report this citizens abroad vote total to the Congress.
All Presidential Election Day ballots will include the same 4 tickets, or more if there was a tie, of finalist candidates for President and running mates, and one write-in line for President only.
Voters may vote for 0, 1, or 2 candidates for President.
One ballot having a ballot candidate selected, and the same name written in, should be marked by vote counters, and shall be counted as one vote. An objectively unreadable written vote shall not count. One ballot indicating three or more votes shall be counted as zero votes.
States will count the votes of their own residents, without adding bonus votes, and forward only their popular vote totals to the Congress.
States will not require any of the finalist candidates, nor require of write-in candidates, to petition, or to register, or pay fees, and will not impede their candidacy in any other way, except that if the number of votes for a write-in candidate does not exceed one half of 1% of the total number of votes for the four finalist candidates in a county or state, then the votes for that candidate shall be disregarded in that county or state. The Congress will investigate successful write-in candidates as necessary to confirm their identities and qualifications.
Each state and the District of Columbia will be allowed Bonus Votes to be credited by the Congress to the ticket or candidate that receives the most votes from that state's voters. The formula to determine the equal number of bonus votes for every state is based on the total resident population of all states and the District of Columbia as of the most recent census:
(Population) divided by (Fifty times the number of states including District of Columbia) = (Unrounded number of bonus votes) and round up to the next ten thousand.
Example: (309 million)/(50 times 51) = 121,176 which rounds up to 130,000 bonus votes for each state and the District of Columbia.
The Congress shall reduce the bonus votes of a state down to a number equal to the valid popular votes cast in that state.
If two or more tickets tie for first in a state, the Congress shall divide that state's bonus votes evenly between the tied candidates, and fractions of a bonus vote will be disregarded.
The Congress will tally the popular vote, and add the state bonus votes, and the ticket receiving the most votes will be the winner.
In the event of a national tie, or an impassable deadlock, the bonus votes shall be disregarded, and the popular vote of the Presidential Election shall determine the winner.
If there is then still a mathematical tie, the acting President of the United States shall cast a tie-breaking vote.
If there is no Vice President-elect, or the Vice President-elect is unable to take office, the President-elect shall nominate a Vice President, to be confirmed by the new Senate in January. If not confirmed, the new President shall, before the 4th of February, nominate an eligible sitting Senator, and the Senators shall individually report to the President their choice of the two nominees before the 9th of February, and in case of a tie, the President will decide, even if all Senators refuse to choose.
If any candidate is elected and does not meet the qualifications of Presidency, the person shall not take office. If a winning write-in candidate is found to be unqualified, the Senate will follow the procedure for the event of neither President-elect nor Vice President-elect able to take office.
If there is neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect able to take office, the new Senate, within 72 hours of swearing in, will choose a President from three candidates: the person who was Speaker of the House on Presidential Election Day, the sitting Vice President, and the Presidential candidate who ranked next highest in the second round election's popular vote. If the vote is tied, or if no Senators vote, the acting President shall choose between the tied candidates. The President-elect will be inaugurated, and the new President and the Senate will then follow the process below for filling a Vice Presidential vacancy. A President and Vice President selected in this manner shall serve a 2-year term, during the 2nd year of which, there shall be a Presidential election.
If the President-elect is unable to take office, the President-elect's official running mate, having received a winning number of votes and been made Vice President-elect, shall be sworn in as President, after which a new Vice President will be selected under the rule of Vice Presidential vacancy below.
If a vacancy appears in the Vice Presidency, the President shall within 21 days officially nominate two candidates. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate has the option, during the same 21 days, to nominate one qualified member of the Senate, required to be aged at least 58 years but less than 73 years upon nomination. After all nominations are made, the Senators shall within 9 days select one of the nominees, and shall individually and publicly report to the President their vote. The President Pro Tempore's nominee receiving at least 55% of the Senators' votes shall become the new Vice President. The President's nominees shall be confirmed by receiving the most votes, with the President to cast one tie-breaking vote for first or second on the 10th day, even if all Senators refuse to vote. If no winner is produced, the Speaker of the House shall, before the 14th day, publicly choose the new Vice President from the two having received the most votes from Senators, or from Senators and the President if there was a tie-breaking vote cast. If the Speaker of the House does not choose, on the 14th day the President shall make the choice.
The Congress may by law provide additional procedures for the case of the death or incapacity of any of the persons from whom the President, President-elect, or members of Congress may choose a new President or Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death or incapacity of any of the officials who shall have the right of choice.
If the rules of the Constitution and the law are insufficient to properly elect or appoint a President, in disastrous or unforseen circumstances, the Congress may appoint a President with a majority vote among all members of Congress together, and this appointed President may be replaced by another such vote, and any such appointed President shall be replaced by a vote of the citizens.
Section. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; the President may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
The President shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.
The President shall nominate, and shall provide notice to the Senate of nominations, and without a Vote of Disapproval of one half of the Senators in sixty days, shall have Power to appoint Justices of the Supreme Court, and in the same way shall nominate and appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section. 3.
The President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration Measures judged to be necessary and expedient. The President may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, may adjourn them to such Time as he or she shall think proper. The President shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers, shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes.
