The United States citizens have the right to vote for their representatives. However, once the official is elected into office, there is no guarantee that the official will remain faithful to his promises and will always act for the good of the people and the country. Thus, by implementing an amendment that gives people the right to impeach officials, corruption will be less likely to occur. Of course, the impeachment will require valid reasons. Officials in power will have more of an incentive to act in the best interests of the people and the country.
Proposed Amendment
The States and the Citizens of the United States should be allowed to impeach Federal officials from the Executive and Judicial branches. The Legislative branch, State-elected officials, and Locally-elected official are exempt from this law. Such officials include State-elected Governors, Senators, and Representatives & Locally-elected Mayors and Councilmen.
If citizens wish to impeach officials of the Federal government, a petition must be drafted. Only the “Federal-Issued Impeachment Petition” (FIIP) will be accepted. That petition will then be sent to the State government. If the State government approves, the “FIIP” shall be issued to all 50 states. Citizens of all 50 states can sign. A minimum of ⅔ of each state’s population must sign. Likewise, approval must be granted from each state government in order for the state to validly vote “Yes”. Impeachment would function similarly to the Electoral College. (See "Clarifications" below)
If any signatures are found to be invalid, there will be consequences. The petition will be revoked and the impeachment will not occur. Individuals who falsify any information can be subjected up to a $5,000 fine and no more than 1 year in prison.
Clarifications (Steps)
- At least two-thirds of the state's population must sign the petition in order for its vote to be valid.
- After the state's vote is validated (See #1), it would count as "a certain number of votes" via the Electoral College (Click here to see how the Votes/State is allocated)
- A simple majority is required for the impeachment to take place. (Since there are currently 538 electoral votes- only 270 electoral votes is required)
- (See #3) This may be subject to change under special circumstances.
(Example)
- Two-thirds of PA's population signs the FIIP (Its vote is now validated)
- Since PA's vote is validated, it is counted as 20 Electoral Votes (Yes, for impeachment)
It would be very nice to have a stronger influence on how our governmental officials act in office. Many times promises are made prior to elections and then forgotten once the official makes their way into Washington. But, I think this is a more complicated issue that requires more fine details. Asking for 2/3 of each state's population could cause the same population v. representation issues like it did during the Constitutional Convention. 2/3 of Rhode Island is not all equal to 2/3 of California. So, getting 2/3 of people to agree to an impeachment would be much easier in Rhode Island than in California and so this could cause major grid lock in this process.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if the people have a different opinion that other elected officials, should there be a balance in the power of impeachment? Maybe other elected officials should also have to meet a certain ratio of agreement for the FIIP before impeachment occurs.
I see what you are saying. While Monica and I were forming this Amendment, we came across similar issues. I guess what we forgot to mention is that it would take 2/3 of the state's population for "its vote" to be valid. But its vote would be counted via the electoral college. For example if at least 2/3 of PA population sign for impeachment. Their vote would count for 20 Electoral College votes. If 2/3 of Rhode Island signed, its vote would count as 4. Maybe we should clarify that. Thanks :)
DeletePS. Also, instead of a 2/3 population idea, could you make another suggestion? We are very open to other possibilities.
2/3 of registered voters, perhaps?
DeleteI think this amendment would cause too much conflict in the nation. Anyone who opposed an official's opinion could start a petition to impeach them and if they got enough people on board, they could impeach someone just for having a different opinion. Especially since the divide between political parties is so bad these days, everyone would be getting impeached simply because of the position they take. There should be guidelines for whatever purposes people start these positions.
ReplyDelete