|
Peter Camejo on Government Reform
2004 former Reform Party nominee for Vice President; previously Candidate for CA Governor
|
One-person-one-vote needs a multi-party system
The one person, one vote issue has faced a long uphill battle in US history. While often accepted as the goal of democracy, many US institutions-such as the Electoral College & the US Senate-reject the concept of one person, one vote. The Avocado
Education Project seeks to learn from the experience of the majority of nations holding elections under multi-party systems, whose laws protect one-person one-vote and where the juridical electoral forms favoring a two-party system have been rejected.
Source: The Avocado Declaration, by Peter Miguel Camejo
Jan 1, 2004
Empower the local governments
Our county governments are starved for money right now. Most of the money they received is already allocated. The county supervisors have almost no power at all. The fact is about half of their discretionary money was taken away and then when we had
surpluses in the budget of the state, instead of giving it back to the counties, they refused to. Counties start looking at their pension fund as a big pile of money that maybe they can somehow solve their budget problems by not making the payments that
they should be making. So what we need to do is give that money back. We have to empower the local governments. We have to give them more freedom. We have to look at these issues more carefully. All supervisors are feeling for lack of funding to be
able to carry out the important tasks they do, including preventive medical, the healthcare that if we cut those, we'll end up paying more because that simply becomes a problem in the emergency room.
Source: Recall Debate, Cal. State Univ. at Sacramento
Sep 24, 2003
Open political system with IRV and proportional assembly
The Green Party wants to open up the electoral system. Look at the debate today. Do you want to go back to the day when there are only two people heard? If a person gets 20% of the vote, they should get 20% of the assembly, the way it is all over
the world, except in America. We have a 200-year dysfunctional, money-dominated, winner-take-all system.
We need to have runoffs and instant runoff voting, so that the will of the electorate is respected. The recall election is the perfect example.
Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek
Sep 3, 2003
Encourage volunteerism and political activism
Q: Political participation remains extremely low. How do you inspire the public to "get involved"?A: I've addressed volunteerism with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.
I've always encouraged people to vote, and not just for the Green Party, but to vote and become politically active. People come up to me after hearing me speak and tell me that I've inspired them to want to get involved in activism.
Source: Eastern Groups Publications, CA Gov. Q&A, with Raul Vasquez
Nov 2, 2002
Green's contributions for message; Dem-Rep's for investments
Contributions from individuals are essential for the Green Party and other small parties what allow us to grow and reach voters with our message. These contributions come from individuals who believe in what we are doing and who want to see us expand our
work and our message. But what the Democrats and Republicans get are not contributions, but investments. They are expecting something in return for their investments, and that is absolutely sickening.
Source: Eastern Groups Publications, CA Gov. Q&A, with Raul Vasquez
Nov 2, 2002
Full disclosure, spending limits, & state campaign finance
[On campaign finance issues]:- Supports requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information
-
Supports imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns
- Supports partial funding from state taxes for state level political campaigns
Source: Vote-Smart.org 2002 National Political Awareness Test
Jul 1, 2002
Supports IRV, on-line voting, & same-day registration
[On election issues]:- Supports voting on-line
- Support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes
-
Supports prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in California are closed
- Supports allowing voter registration on Election day
Camejo says, "Hold runoffs for state-level offices. Use instant runoff voting system."
Source: Vote-Smart.org 2002 National Political Awareness Test
Jul 1, 2002