A Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment

  1. The Senate shall be 100 members who win an election among all citizens of the United States. Such elections shall be biennial or more frequent as Congress shall provide. Elections under this Constitution shall be by secret ballot for individuals or parties, using Ranked Choice Voting. Except on matters for which this Constitution requires a higher number, all actions of the Senate shall be determined by a majority vote of those members voting.

  2. The Senate shall elect the President and Vice President who shall serve until the Senate shall elect their successors. No person shall serve as President for more than eight years.

  3. Electoral districts will not be drawn for political advantage. Congress and the states will use Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) automated simulators to assure compliance.

  4. The Congress shall have the power to set limits on contributions and expenditures made to influence the outcome of any federal election. Each state shall have the power to set limits on contributions and expenditures made to influence the outcome of elections in that state. Without infringing First Amendment rights, Congress shall provide reasonable additional means for candidates and parties to communicate with voters.

  5. Corporations are public, not private. The rights enumerated in this Constitution or in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are the rights of living beings, not corporations, except that the rights conferred by the Second Amendment are rights of the states, not of individuals. Individuals may not waive their Constitutional rights.

  6. Voting shall be an obligation of all citizens. The right of citizens of the United States, who are sixteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of any status, criminal conviction or lack of documentation, except upon clear and convincing evidence of non-citizenship or having already voted.

  7. The District of Columbia shall be a state.

  8. The rights of Free Speech, Assembly and to Petition for Redress of Grievances shall not be infringed on grounds of the content of the speech or petition. All speech and petitions are matters of public concern.

  9. The United States and the states shall promptly pay all damages, as determined by a jury if so demanded, proximately caused anywhere by a tort or violation of law of any officer or employee acting within the scope of their duties. All judges under this Constitution shall enter judgment for the amounts determined by the jury without reducing the amount determined by the jury. Individuals shall have standing and may seek relief for violations of the common law or as otherwise provided by the treaties ratified (except those treaties which explicitly state that they are not self-executing) and the statutes enacted under this Constitution.

  10. The United States and all officers and employees serving under this Constitution shall submit to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and the United States will have no relations with and will provide no military assistance to any country outside that Court's jurisdiction.

  11. The Eleventh, Twelfth, Seventeenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third Amendments, and section 2 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, are repealed.

  12. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Equal Rights Amendment is not included here because it has been ratified by 38 states as of January 15, 2020.


Email: rrenner@igc.org