Waiting for Scores.. (Week of April 28)

4/28/15:
I'm pretty much done with final submission! I just need to get my scores from Mr Correa (he left them in the conference room) and then I can put those in my process paper and submit everything!
I also put all my mentor emails into a pdf for the process record folder!

4/30/15:
I submitted my thesis! Working on an article for submission to a newspaper now. I also saw my scores (they're good!) so now I'm done with thesis, pretty much.

What a day...

We had a tornado drill at the beginning of the period. Also Jesus and David asked me to time their presentation, which is starting in 15 minutes.

I'm going to submit my process paper once I update it (hopefully I can ask Correa about my scores today). 

Induction ceremonies will be scheduled at some point.

Going to look for ways to publish my research as well.

Good luck to Jia, Michelle, Jesus, David, Ia, Thiel, Jordan, and Zulkifl, who are presenting today (all the slots are taken, so busy!)

I SURVIVED!

I presented today, and it went pretty well.. currently waiting for scores (all the slots were taken today so Mr. Correa was super busy and I couldn't ask).
Going to finish the product paper, submit everything, and working on publishing my paper!

Making the presentation (4/10 through 4/20)

4/10/15:
Really got down to find all the graphics for my presentation! I have to make two of them, the others I found online. The script is coming along nicely too, so I will be rehearsing within the next week as well.

College updates: UT friends are so great... I'm chasing down research and dorm information right now and they're helping so much! :)

4/14/15:
I volunteered at Ruby's thesis on Sunday, which was more fun than I expected. There are clips at her blog.
Congrats to Tschiemer, who did his presentation today! I'm attending Lucija's presentation later today as well. My PowerPoint didn't send properly last night so I'm working on script today. Good thing I did most of the graphics for the presentation over the weekend anyway. I bet it's in the downloads folder at my house.
I sent my paper to my judges (one of them is apparently reading it right now, Drive labeled him as "anonymous nyan cat"...) so that's on track too!
I also added to my process paper.
Reminder to have Correa sign the cover sheet.

4/20/15:
Going to send a reminder email to my judges tomorrow!
Got the cover sheet signed.
Practicing the presentation.
Reminder to add details about how my presentation went after next class.

Still kicked out

I am continuing my final presentation work in Mr. Templet's room.


to-do:
Have Correa sign the cover sheet
Send the paper to the judges.
Finish and rehearse the presentation.

We got kicked out

Since presentations began today, we got put in Templet's room, where we spent 15 minutes finding ethernet cables, logging in, installing chrome, etc.
I also procured another judge!
Working on the final presentation, it was a little slow today because I am sick, but it should finish by the deadline!

Product Hustle is Real

So apparently somehow when I double-spaced something was off so I need to add stuff to the bill outline!

Also continuing on the final presentation outline and script. It's so hard to condense and organize everything, but I guess that's good since it means I have enough info for 20 minutes.

On the hunt for my third and last judge as well (shout out to Kendall for helping me!)
Working on the presentation outline (goal is to finish by April 10th so I can rehearse for presentation on the 22nd).

Final presentation pointers

To-do:
Send judges the paper.
Get Correa to sign the thesis cover.
Finish the 10 page process paper whenever I have time.
Ask if what else needs to be at the presentation (do I need to print my paper or blog, etc.)
Also ask if I have to send them my process record with the paper.
Also do I just link my blog and how do I submit my email record?
Find the last judge...

Presentations

Going to work on my presentation script today! Intros and conclusions are the hardest. Also brainstorming ideas for a bill name.

Also spent some time working through college stuff with Ruby.

Bill Title ideas:
Comprehensive Election Reform Act (CERA)
Upgrade Voting Now (UVN)


Reminders:
Final presentation is at least 20 minutes.

Work continues

This is the first time in a while that it's been a little chill in thesis because I finished my paper. Also I finally sent my banquet pics!
From now on I will be working on and practicing my final presentation. I don't have it on drive yet so that will be happening at home and next class. Right now I am editing my bill format, editing the paper, making sure everything is in order, and working on my process paper.
Warning: I suck at names so naming this bill is actually going to be the hardest part...

Abstract, Profile Forms

I worked more on my abstract today! I also requested the mentor profile forms and judge profile forms from Mr. Correa and sent them, so I should get those back soon.

12:03 update: the abstract should be done very soon! After I finish the final presentation PowerPoint I should be able to finish the ten-page process paper, which is due May 1st.

To-do list:
Come up with a name for the bill.
Print the judge scoring forms.
Print the cover page and have Mr. Correa sign it.
Finish the final presentation PowerPoint.

We took the panoramic!

Got back from the panoramic picture at 11:56 am.
Have to continue editing the paper.


Reminder that Mr. Correa said the final presentation should be more about the product than the process.
Also the process paper has to be formatted soon.

Product Renovation, Class Picture

I have written a 9 page paper (single-spaced) and will attach the bill outline (which is to be part of the paper, making it the required length, nobody freak out) and works cited to the end as soon as they are done. This combines my ideas effectively. A paper would not lay out how I want to implement my reforms, but a written bill would not comprise some of the reforms (particularly the issue of voting in American territories, which will likely involve a constitutional amendment), so I realized I had to include both.

My process paper is due May 1st, so I do have more time, but I am almost done with that as well.
What I have left to do is my abstract, finish the works cited, possibly add some things to the bill timeline, and make/rehearse my final presentation.


To-do:
Reminder that we are supposed to take the panoramic picture on Tuesday.
Also, a reminder that my Works Cited page needs to be alphabetized after it's finished.
Send my judges the paper once it is finished (remember to read over the entire thing first).
Have my mentor and judges fill out the profile forms (ask Correa where they are, can't find them in Edmodo).

Sunday update: Almost finished the Works Cited page!

Technology Issues

Well I was working on the outline for the bill but unfortunately it turns out yesterday someone broke my laptop screen while I was at school. So until that gets fixed I probably will have to do most of my thesis stuff in class and before school. I am finishing the outline for the bill and will probably start writing soon.

Notes on American territories:
More than 4 million people live in American territories, 98.4% of these are racial or ethnic minorities.
Puerto Rico has more U.S. citizens than 21 states but its residents still cannot vote.
Navy and Air Force bases occupy nearly 27% of Guam's land, yet its residents cannot vote either.
Additionally, 1 in 8 Guamanians are veterans. Guam holds a straw poll every election year and its turnout of registered voters (67%) is higher than that of the overall U.S. turnout (61.8%)
Despite American Samoa's status as the top U.S. Army recruiting station, American Samoans are the only residents of a U.S. territory that do not even have American citizenship, yet alone voting rights. They are instead "American Nationals."

To-do:
Write the bill
Finish the paper
Make and practice the final presentation

Paper, Induction Ceremonies

Spent a while looking for an induction ceremony program. RUBY IS AWESOME. (Guess who wrote that while I was gone). I also looked up some bills to get a feel for what sort of thing I'm going to write. A preamble is optional so I have to consider whether to add that as well. As of right now for the paper I am at 8 pages single-spaced and am getting the citations for the works cited.
Some of the bills I looked at today:
The Dream Act (1, 2)
The Help America Vote Act (1)
A bill has to cover a lot of things, including what it is going to accomplish, and how it is going to do that (funds required, formation of commissions, monitoring, etc.) so I am going to start by making a list of what I want to include and go from there.
Additionally there are other bills out addressing campaign reform (namely the American Anti-corruption Act) so I probably won't be talking about that in the bill I write.

Yet another snow day..?

What a week.. another snow day, so now I'm doing thesis at home.

Still working on the paper. After this I have to finish the sources page and then after that I will see if I have enough time to add another thing to my product (a draft of a bill or at least an idea of what a bill with these reforms in it would look like). Then I have to do my final presentation PowerPoint and practice that!

Basically, I have a lot of work to do.

(03/08/15) Update: On page 7 single-spaced of the paper. Also updated my mentor on where I am with thesis!

(03/09/15) Update: A shoutout to John Oliver for reminding me I forgot to address a huge issue in my project: the lack of voting rights for citizens in American territories.

Judge forms, Paper

Filled out some forms Mr. Correa sent for the thesis judge information. (I have two confirmed judges!)
We received report cards.
Banquet pics are due April 1st, induction ceremonies are March 31st.
I worked a bit more on the paper today. Where I left off this weekend was the ideas in one of my TED talks that discussed encrypted voting ballots that were compatible with IRV. I am going to transition into voter knowledge somehow...
Since the paper is now at 5 pages single spaced I worked a little on the works cited page (basically I have the sources marked but haven't put them in MLA format yet so that's what I'm doing right now.
I still have the campaign advertising part of my outline in an indefinite position, as I'm not sure where to discuss it in the paper or how. Obviously, ads with incorrect information in them are a problem but limiting them effects free speech. I hope to counter wrong information because I'm not sure if it's legal to eliminate.

Update: I have transitioned into voter information using the topic of technology. I have also used the poll regarding perception of Obama's religious beliefs and how this changes the way people vote. I will be looking for more statistics regarding voter misinformation.
I hope to add to Pia Mancini's app from a previous TED talk. Her development of democracyos would also need to post "translated" presidential debates with a fact-check.
I have went on to provisional voting and same day registration.
ALSO I HIT PAGE SIX!!!

To-do:
See what has happened in the time since the TED talk
Find that last banquet pic...
Get induction stuff together for Mu Alpha Theta

IRV continues, it's still snowing...again (TEXAS WEATHER!!!)

It's snowing right now.
Currently addressing some things regarding the IRV and the cost of new voting machines. After this I will probably discuss the special ballots from a previous TED talk (the ones that allow any voter to verify the election results, increasing transparency and confidence in the system).
I will also have to transition into voter registration at some point, and figure out where to discuss campaign advertising and media/voter knowledge. Voter knowledge will be a particularly depressing section, and will probably feature data showing how misinformed large sectors of the public are (polls and studies showing how little people know about campaign fund sources, several polls showing that people still think Obama is Muslim, other polls showing that this opinion actually changes their vote, etc.)
The paper has reached 4 pages in Calibri font, single-spaced (with no cover page or works cited and I'm not anywhere near done) so this is probably gonna meet whatever length requirements are issued in the future.
Also I will be spending some time hunting down mysteriously vanished sources (I remembered reading them but apparently did not save them anywhere).

Update: I have so far concluded the IRV section of the paper and have transitioned into the voter registration section. Here I will be discussing Michigan's qualified voter file system. Also helping Michelle with some difficulties.. one of the sources she needs is in German so if anyone knows where the English version is please tell. Also I think I solved the provisional voting/same day registration struggle. I will have states choose which one they want, like they do with primaries and caucuses.

Update: Mr. Correa is throwing office supplies and as a result of the situation in that side of the room Dante might switch to refugee status and sit here... Tschiemer attributes this behavior to the death of Leonard Nimoy. More news to follow.

This is going to sound irrelevant, but we are watching House of Cards later which might remind me of other flaws in our political system that I need to address. This would help illustrate the corruptibility of the government and the importance of political campaigns to such candidates. The fictional representation gives the audience a false view of how the US government truly functions but gives rough insights to the true processes. (Jesus wrote those last two sentences when I left my computer unattended. Pretty good, huh?)

Saturday update: Stumbled on this disturbing piece by NPR about racial discrimination in elections. While it's not as obvious or blatant as poll taxes and quizzes, this subtle discrepancy between treatment of minorities by election officials raises serious concerns.

Paper Continues...

I am currently discussing electoral misfire, IRV, etc. in the paper. It's weird addressing plurality wins now instead of in the nomination process part of the paper since it has become unusual for more than 2 candidates to run in the general election. I am considering talking about IRV earlier because of this.
In this section of the paper, (I am discussing IRV right now) I will have to cover both the predicted
and actual positive points of IRV as well as address some perceived negatives. Possibly I will also need to compare it to other systems of voting.

Positives:
Reduced negative campaigning (reference this from a previous blog post:An estimated $4 billion was spent on the 2014 midterm elections, with $1 million being spent on campaign ads (half of these ads were negative). [x] [x])
Majority win
No cost for runoff election
Increased turnout in U.S. cities that held instant runoff elections

Negatives and counterattacks:
Voting procedure will be too difficult to understand (This study concludes that minorities are more likely to support IRV than the conventional runoff voting in that election and that it was reported as being easy to understand by voters of all races. Also, people in Australia, Ireland, and elsewhere can understand it since there are low residual ballot rates, so why shouldn't people in America?)
Voting machine technology will be too expensive (first of all it's a necessary cost for all the benefit it brings. Secondly, if it becomes part of an act there will be federal funds allocated for the purpose of procuring new machines, such as with the Help America Vote Act).

Also, I registered for AP exams last week.
Reminder to buy talent show tickets and DVD ($15)

Snow Day

Well it's a snow day but we're so close to the end I can't really just take a break.
I have concluded the campaign funding section (so far, you never know when new info will come) and have entered the actual voting process, where I will discuss electoral misfire, IRV, voting registration, and some of the tech solutions I have.
I also submitted a scholarship the other day.

Paper, Funding

(We have a sub today. Hi, Ms. Sanders.)
Spent more time writing the paper today. Campaign finance is hard to discuss. The two viable solutions are making sure underfunded candidates can get money and keeping wealthy candidates from outspending everyone else to win. So the two solutions at the forefront of that idea are clean funding and spending limits. Clean funding doesn't have a ton of support but there seems to be no other way to solve the problem. Excessive limits on spending curtails free speech as decided in the Citizens' United ruling. While half of Americans support campaign finance reform as shown in the poll I linked earlier, many aren't sure whether they would support public funding.
Another issue is that the funding problem is so deep rooted reform has to start from the bottom (local and congressional elections) before we can even think about fixing it in the presidential elections.
For this I am primarily looking to the American Anti-Corruption Act, which has passed in Tallahassee, Florida and hopes to eventually reform congressional elections. As I noted earlier, its provisions hold up constitutionally, which is a concern with other finance reform acts [x].

To-do:
Find the remaining senior banquet pic
Write more of the paper
Continue the final presentation PowerPoint
Think of ways to augment the product paper
Honor society pics today
Class meeting tomorrow

Final Presentation, Paper

My presentation date has been set for April 22nd at 11:00 am! (Apologies to Michelle, who apparently wanted the same date).
Working more on the paper today (of course) and also looking at the product standards more to see what else I can add into my final product.
The product should:
Present new ideas and change the understanding of the field

• I will do this by presenting the reforms together as a group of changes that will affect the system at every point in time. Most analysts propose one reform centered on the electoral college or the voting registration process; my project hopes to combine them to achieve a greater effect on the system as a whole. I hope to get professionals to see the presidential election system as one that has flaws that are reinforced early on, before candidates even choose to run; the problems do not just appear at the general election.

Propose innovative solutions and new applications

• I primarily hope to do this with my use of technology in solving many problems in the voting process. The TED talks have really helped in this regard, as I can see examples of innovative solutions that are being implemented in other parts of the world. I also hope to implement local things (such as Michigan's sophisticated voter registration system) on a nationwide level.

Demonstrate extensive understanding of the field and its themes

• The depth of my research and the wide range of reforms should showcase my understanding of the field.

Provide unique and sophisticated analysis of the trends and connections to other fields

• I will focus on drawing connections to fields such as advertising, finance, technology, social media, etc.

Make a difference in the lives of self and others

• In improving a system that affects everyone living here and even people living abroad I hope to make a difference in others lives and in my own. My project will help citizens become more connected and involved with their government and thus shape the impact the bureaucracy has on our lives.

Still in the campaign finance part of my product paper. There has been a trend in increasing focus on this topic. Polls from 1997 show that it was a non issue [x], and even voters as late as the 2008 presidential elections were not very aware of where or how their candidates were funded [x].
Gallup put the issue very well: "Campaign finance reform is like world peace: Everyone thinks it's a great idea and supports efforts to secure it, but almost no one expects it to happen."

Reminders:
We have a class meeting on Thursday

Paper, Research, another to-do list

Today is half for data collecting and half for continuing to write the paper. I looked for Gallup polls today since I had Pew Research center ones from last time. I will transfer my notes here as soon as I have time!
Voting and technology TED talk
Pia Mancini discusses the election system in Argentina and its outdated practices. Her team designed democracyos.org as a bridge between citizens and their representatives. Every new proposal that congress receives is translated into plain language so citizens can keep up with their government. A person could then vote on the site (yes, no, or abstaining) as to how they feel about the project that was introduced. However, none of Argentina's political parties were interested in using this data to see how their platform was aligned or not aligned with the ideas and desires of its constituents. Mancini's team then formed its own political party and won a considerable amount of the vote for the fact that it had only been in existence for two months. This lead to Argentina's plan to implement democracyos as a way for Congress to connect with the citizens.
"Coding a better government" TED talk
Jennifer Pahlka talks about founding "Code for America" which matches software geniuses with cities to create apps and reboot local services. While I don't think I can really incorporate the ideas into my thesis it is a great way to think about getting citizens involved with local government in ways that are faster than turning to the bureaucracy.
Open Source government TED talk
Former deputy CTO at the White House Beth Noveck pushes for opening up government data to allow citizens to participate more actively and frequently in the process of improving civic institutions. She cites crowdsourcing websites and initiatives across the world that publish data for public comment and thus help cut spending and fund the building of infrastructure. I hope this idea can be applied to campaign finance, so citizens can see where their candidates are really getting money from and also to the idea of legislation and debate, as seen in Mancini's talk.
Data (Gallup poll): roughly half of Americans support public financing for federal elections
(Gallup poll) Widespread support for campaign finance reform

(Sorry. I like TED talks. They present new ideas and often combine them with technology. Also don't have an agenda or a link to either political party or ideology)

To-do:
Pester one of my possible judges more (in a friendly manner of course)
Start the final presentation PowerPoint
Find/dig up more old data
Somehow find a family pic for the senior banquet...

Saturday update: Added my TED talk notes, still working with judges. Also, I learned a strange thing about caucuses: both primaries and caucuses have really low turnout in general, but especially so compared to the main election. However, they appear to have moderately good demographic representation. The bigger problem is that participation widely varies among states (sometimes by margins of 16%). This means that what I need to focus on is raising turnout in caucuses and primaries instead of revamping the system. I believe that is definitely doable with the rotating regional primary reform (which allows the state to keep its chosen nomination process of either caucus or primary in spite of the fact that the name does seem to imply otherwise).

Paper, Sourcing, To-Do

I had to put the two articles from last time into my sources to use when my paper gets to IRV. I am currently finishing the part of my paper detailing the nomination process related reforms. I am a little stuck as to what I should talk about next. I was trying to talk about media but I think I will go on to campaign funding until I get a more solid idea of what I want to talk about in terms of media perception and election coverage.
To start on the campaign funding section, I am beginning with the concerns of the "party of non voters" discussed in the Pew Research polls I collected. I will also discuss the amounts of money spent and its sources, as well as what sort of influence those sources (who are limited to a few rich people) have on the process.

Looking for more polls to support stance on campaign funding:
Opinions of funding
Too much money in campaigns

Update: I am beginning the part of my paper that covers election funding. Also some time in class was spent dealing with and helping Michelle deal with technological difficulties...

To-do:
Contact more judges in case of schedule conflicts with the current ones and follow up with one of the possible judges who hasn't responded
Work on the paper out of school
Draft for the brochure
Look for more polls in here: [x]
Also look for polls from Gallup

Funding, Product Paper

Finding some sources to support my stance on large amounts of campaign funding:
About $7 billion total was spent during the 2012 presidential election, according to the Federal Election Commission. This was even more money than was predicted ($6 billion). [x]

An estimated $4 billion was spent on the 2014 midterm elections, with $1 million being spent on campaign ads (half of these ads were negative). [x] [x]
Today I ran into a concerning problem called "dark money" which is becoming the next shady, behind the curtains way to give money to political candidates (in the family of soft money and super PACs, etc.). Dark money is used to support candidates and is given through non-tax deductible donations to 501c non-profit organizations who are not legally considered to be political. These donations do not have to be disclosed and thus make it harder to track candidate spending as well as the source of the money. As more and more of these underhand money swaps occur during elections, I am becoming more convinced to address the problem of campaign finance; the challenge is finding a viable solution. As I am currently discussing the nomination process in my paper, I do still have time to solidify ideas regarding clean campaigns.

I ended up running into some articles that address popular concerns about IRV. This article backs up the idea that IRV would lower negative campaigns by forcing candidates to work together to gain second choice positions. This study concludes that minorities are more likely to support IRV than the conventional runoff voting in that election and that it was reported as being easy to understand by voters of all races. The year it was implemented, turnout increased citywide by 2.7 times, and in the city’s six most racially and socio-economically diverse neighborhoods turnout quadrupled in the 2005 citywide election.

Senior updates:
I paid my dues and the yearbook money and all that
I can't find the last picture for the senior banquet list (I guess my family doesn't take pictures all together often)

Paper, Plurality Wins

I continued writing my paper today. Because of this I had to research some statistics about plurality wins:
Fifteen presidential elections have resulted in the election of someone who received a plurality vote (they did not win the majority of the vote). Three candidates have won two terms with plurality wins. [x]

Additionally, plurality wins occur as early as the primaries, which means that the system has deep roots and will be hard to fix. This is especially concerning because primaries tend to have lower turnout than the general election anyway and for the candidates to still not win a majority of the few people who are voting is suspicious to the party of non voters, who take this as further reason to not participate. The idea that a candidate can win primaries and the general election without a majority vote severely undermines democracy and lowers faith in the election system.
I am currently discussing the IRV and the modified rotating regional lottery plan in the paper.

It is still difficult to find ways to highlight some side issues that do not really directly affect my thesis but help it achieve its purpose in other ways (felon disenfranchisement, etc.) but most of my other topics are in the outline and I think I should be able to finish the paper in a timely manner. Going over my old sources and remembering everything I want to put in is a little difficult, but with my Google docs the second I remember something I want to add I can make a note of it in the outline so hopefully I get in everything I wanted to talk about.

Update on judges: one of my prospects thinks his wife might be better suited, so he's confirming dates with her.

Senior Things, Paper, Judges

Confirming presentation dates with judges, hopefully will have that settled by the end of this week!

Getting details from another voter turnout report for 2012:
Only a little over half the voting age population voted in 2012 (57.5%), which was down from 2008 (62.3%).
This was despite the estimated $6 billion spent on campaigns and the 8 million person increase in the voting eligible population.
Additionally most of the high turnout that contributes to the average came from swing states, which combined with the lower turnout (some as little as 30-40%) from the other states lead to the little over half average.

Gaps between primary turnout in certain states certainly exist as well. New Hampshire’s position as the first state to hold its primary boosted its turnout to approximately 50% in 2008, putting it as much as 30 percentage points ahead of other states. Strangely, several studies have found that demographic representation is increasing in both primaries and caucuses, despite really low turnout in comparison to the general election. Therefore the problem is becoming one of disparate turnout between states, a problem that is only exacerbated in the issue of "swing states" in the general election.

A troubling hurdle when it comes to the nomination process is the lack of data. Many studies are available for demographic representation and turnout for every state when it comes to the general election, but data like that for primaries and caucuses is difficult to find, and for some reason a lot of it comes from really far back (1972). That reason is probably the importance of the primaries for the Democratic party in that year.

I also worked on my product paper today. Currently I am in the section that discusses the nomination process and its related reforms, so I am retrieving the important data from my folder in Google Drive.

Senior stuff to-do:
Buy yearbook
Send banquet pictures

Product Paper, Judges, etc.

I am in the second paragraph of the product paper. I should be researching more campaigns for election reform today. I am also very near to scheduling my thesis presentation (it should be near the end of April as soon as the other judge confirms).

Notes on this study:
Today I am focusing on the demographics of campaign donors. People who run private campaigns are going to get a donor pool that is small, exclusive, and not racially diverse, in addition to not being financially diverse. The process of getting donors appears to me as a citizen to be a good way to spread awareness about a campaign and get future votes. It looks like a more open way of doing things instead of getting huge donations behind closed doors from super PACs. Of course it would require more effort from the candidates, which they will not like, being to accustomed to funding their campaigns by being rich and knowing rich people.
The donor pool from clean campaigns is also more racially and economically representative of the actual population of the state than that of people running in privately funded campaigns. Also, private donors often come from outside of the state, which gives the people of the state less power.

A bit of an overview on how Arizona's clean funded campaigns work:
Candidates are required to raise a certain amount of money before receiving the public grant. This money must be raised from limited contributions, seed money from private institutions (who cannot contribute after the grant is received), and a limited amount of personal money.

I also read more about the constitutionality of the American Anti-Corruption act. It does seem to hold up in court, especially since the paper was written by prominent constitution attorneys. The process and amount of money involved than in Arizona, which makes this Act more suitable for implementation on a larger scale (congressional and presidential). The provisions address serious issues such as lobbyists, PACs, and contributions from tax-exempt businesses, which are relevant in the presidential election as well.

Campaign Funding, Judges

Time to look more into a problem that is very complicated: campaign finance. While most Americans believe it skews the process in the favor of wealthy candidates and is a hurdle to achieving true democracy, many people also believe it is a problem that is very difficult and even impossible to solve. Today I am looking at public funded campaigns and their results.
It will be difficult to gauge the results in a national election because "clean elections" are only being implemented on lower level elections. The biggest problem so far, predictably, has been securing enough funding for candidates to run. Several other candidates also expressed the concern that they would not secure enough money and did not run. Local level elections simply do not garner the amount of attention or interest that the higher up elections do, so this is a predictable problem. However, it does lower the confidence of the public in clean funding. The Fair Elections Now Act is trying to mitigate this problem by requiring that broadcast time be cheaper for candidates running using public financing.
The American Anti-corruption Act first of all has a very nice website. It seeks to prevent members of Congress from taking money from industries that they regulate, limit Super PAC contributions, prevent the use of job offers as "bribes", limit lobbying, mandate transparency in funding, increase public donations, and strengthen the Federal Election Commission. The analysts who made this reform (some of whom are from the Federal Election Commission) have been careful to address all the concerns the public may have, including its cost and constitutionality.
The Grassroots Democracy Act also focuses on congressional campaigns. The fact that all of these reforms start at that level show the deep roots of the problem. In order to limit the role money plays in politics, we have to start at the bottom. There are several reasons for this, including that it's easier to fix the "smaller" problems and then work up. A success at the congressional level will also rally support for reforms at the presidential campaign level. Such a success or a move towards success would also help with some of the skepticism that people have about limiting financing.

I started writing my product paper. The intro and the conclusion will probably be the hardest.
Also I spent some time in class contacting judges in order to pick a presentation date.

Correa Pep Talks, Judge Hunt, Product

Mr. Correa gave us some advice, scheduling stuff, and a pep talk until 11:52 am today.
The final presentation schedule (they're all in April), rank (mine went up!), and presentation grades (94) came out today.
The presentation will be 15-25 minutes and the judges will be given our product and blog.
This report from the Census details voter turnout in 2008, which was at all time high before dropping exponentially later in 2012.

To-do list (this is long because we had less class time today):
Begin the product paper
Look at using a brochure or a website for part of the product
Post in the TAG group on Facebook to look for former campaign volunteers
Schedule the presentation with one of my judges (1/2 done)
Watch the other saved TED talk that I have
Give the family pics that Correa needs for banquet (5/6 done)
Research other organizations that campaign for reform that I can mention (1/2 done)
I might want to even start getting together a basic idea for my PowerPoint final presentation (decided to start the paper first)
Ask my mentor about her opinion on same day registration (will email her with judge updates)

Sunday update: In addition to working on the to do list I was given a suggestion that would help me with the finance part of my thesis (site link here). Also I have some judge leads to chase down, thanks to the TAG Facebook page. Also pictures of me from freshman year are scarce (probably because I always ran away from cameras) so I haven't found the last photo to send to Mr. Correa yet.
Monday update: The TED talk skillfully explains how much money influences who gets to run in the general election, and thus the outcome. It makes a strong case for cleaner campaign funding. It references the fair elections now act, the American anti-corruption act, and the grassroots democracy act.

Day 43: Judges, Voter Turnout

In the wake of the State of the Union address I am once again hit by the importance of my thesis. Political divisions and pettiness were both mentioned by the President last night, and I hope to reduce both of these through my ideas.
I have one judge that should be able to come. I just have to confirm once the schedule comes out.
The other judges are the tricky part, since I have to find past campaign volunteers. That is not a permanent job so I can't just find them on certain websites (for example, with my first mentor I searched for educators working with UTD and SMU).
Currently refining the outline so that I can start writing the final paper.
Another product that I want to do would either be a website for reforms or a flyer/pamphlet that would focus on the best reforms and what the common person can do to help push them through.
I will probably be researching other reform campaigns that I can tell people to join. Those movements probably have websites, which is why I'm leaning towards a informative document that has infographics in it.
The TED talk I watched over the weekend had a really cool idea: it involved the use of "encrypted" ballots that were perforated so the voter could take it home. The code on it could then be used to track the vote on a computer. Essentially all the codes would be put on a database and voters could check their votes and verify the election results themselves. Since the ballots are encoded, the voters' identities and choices would still be secret, yet the process would become much more transparent. Aside from being a creative and novel idea, this concept could help increase voter confidence significantly, especially since the aftermath of the 2000 election. Additionally, since the inventor is British, the encryption is suitable for instant runoff voting (meaning the candidates can be ranked).

A huge part of thesis is increasing voter turnout, along with increasing the amount of knowledge people have of the candidates at election time.

This study by the Pew Research Center has some insights into the voter turnout problem:

Six-in-ten intermittent voters say they sometimes don’t know enough about candidates to vote compared with 44% of regular voters ­ the single most important attitudinal difference between intermittent and regular voters identified in the survey.

Regular voters are more likely than intermittent voters to say they have been contacted by a candidate or political group encouraging them to vote. They also admit to being bored with politics.

People who are not registered to vote say they are not confident in the process and are more likely to say they are too busy to vote than regular voters. Most of them also say they have moved recently.

Notes for today:
I did everything that was on my to-do list so that's a good sign.
I think I should look at more TED talks for ideas revolving around election reforms and technology, they've given pretty good ideas so far. Plus the older ones may have already been implemented in other countries so I can then look at the results.

Outline, Media things

Working on the outline for my final paper right now.
Now that I've worked significantly on the aspect of changing the voting system so that every vote counts and it's easier to vote, I need to work on voter knowledge and perception. This mainly originates in the media through ads, televised debates, polls, and news reporters. I want to suggest some changes that will allow the voters to get real information about the candidates' platforms and viability, instead of the constant feed of slandering and attacking that they currently receive.
I would like there to be a greater focus on policy ideas, where experts in certain fields analyze the candidates' platforms and project how successful they will be, as well as the hassles that will be involved in carrying them out.

Some statistics about media coverage that I looked at today:
In 2012, coverage of the candidate policy positions comprised the second-largest category of coverage, 22%, similar to 2008. [x]

"rather than a window to examine the candidates’ ideas at more length, the debates became a frame about campaign momentum to a greater degree than the rest of the campaign." (same source as above)

Democrats who thought Obama was Muslim were less likely to vote for him [x]

69% of voters are skeptical about the veracity of political ads, regardless of if the ads were positive or negative [x]

Ad campaigns were found to be more negative in swing states [x]

Campaign ads and their effect (NPR)

Who doesn't vote and why (poll) found this a little late, might need to talk more about it next class.

Update: people who don't vote are more likely to be single and admit to not knowing much about candidates and being "bored with politics". They are less educated and less affluent than consistent voters. They also express less confidence in the government and cited reasons for not voting/registering that included moving often and not having enough time.

I spent longer than I should have trying to get access to this study (How Large and Long-lasting Are the Persuasive Effects of Televised Campaign Ads? Results from a Randomized Field Experiment)

I haven't gotten in yet, but this article summarized what it was saying. Ads have a small but powerful short term effect, and can boost ratings in polls. Since horse-race analysis is the biggest proponent of media coverage in elections, this is an important effect to have.

Reminder section:
I have to pick up transcripts and a rec letter from Mr. Templet on Tuesday
Need to watch the TED talk on voter fraud that has been saved for some time, also should re-watch the one about click baiting
Research more on the formulation of the presidential platform (who comes up with it, is it checked for efficacy, etc.)
Continue the hunt for judges (I have contacted professors of political science at local universities, I need to work more on finding past campaign volunteers)

Last Day of Presentations

After today I'll be back to my regular blogging. We had some great presentations today that also reminded of what other project ideas are out there, particularly those concerning technology.

Update: I worked more on my outline today. In some areas I need to research more reform areas, and in others I really need to not have any more because I already have a lot of information. Over the next two months I plan to be really evening out my data a bit more to have a comprehensive reform plan.

Presentations Day 2

We had some great presentations today as well. Our class seems to have made some progress in their theses so it's cool to see what they've learned and how far they've come. It's interesting to see what different people do to make their presentations connect with the audience. The musical ones usually have audio, play their instrument, or bring something to show the class. Others have statistics and personal stories that allow the audience to understand why their topic is important.
Have to brainstorm more ideas for products and how to best present my information. I also have to add more to the aspect of public action (what an average person do to bring awareness and push through reform ideas).
I am currently contacting judges. There is interest but there is definitely a time issue.
Today I also started my outline for a final paper. The final presentation is a little confusing, but hopefully I'll know more about how it works towards the end of this month.
Update: Currently looking for senior quotes and getting more things together for my thesis product.

Midterm Presentation

I present first in the round, so I'm finished already! I think I stayed in the time limit and managed to talk about some of the reforms I researched (both the ones that were good ideas and those that didn't work out) so now onward to product formation and the hunt for judges.

Winter Break is Over

Currently hunting for thesis judges (mostly looking for political science professors and campaign staff).
Also, Mr. Correa wants 6 pictures of us including one family photo, so I have to find those later. Before someone in my class tries to find worse ones.
Concerning campaign funding, I'm thinking the best way to reduce the money variable is through the structure of the primaries. Then the poorer candidates can get public funding.
Also found a report on campaign finance reform.
On the IRV post from the last class:
There seems to be a discrepancy among opinions regarding IRV and technology. There are reports saying that the voting/tabulating methods cannot accommodate it and others say that it can. Either way new machines will have to be purchased and that adds to the money variable.
Again, the report points out the frequency of plurality wins, which undermine the principles of democracy.