Our 2020 Platform For Democracy

With over 20 candidates officially running for President in 2020, the time is ripe to speak up about our policy priorities — and see who’s listening.
Today, Progressive Turnout Project joined with over 100 other organizations to sign a 2020 platform document. It’s built on one principle: our democratic institutions need to be not only restored, but strengthened against future attacks.

You’ll recognize many of these policy priorities from the For the People Act. Our coalition is putting out this platform now, and sending it to all the presidential candidates — Democrats and Republicans — to urge them to incorporate it into their own platforms. No matter who the next president is, they need to make this platform a priority.
You can read the full document here. Some of the highlights:

Voting rights

We demand:

  • reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act
  • abolition of the Electoral College
  • statehood for DC
  • automatic, online, and same-day voter registration — nationwide
  • early voting — nationwide
  • restoration of voting rights for the formerly incarcerated
  • independent redistricting commissions in all 50 states
  • voting machines with voter-verified paper records
  • mandatory audits of voting systems
  • a fair and accurate Census

This list, and the ones below, are only partial. See the full document for everything. (There’s a lot to fix.)

Transparency

We demand:

  • publication of the President’s tax returns
  • disclosure of all Congressional office expenses, gifts, and foreign travel
  • visitor logs for the White House and any location where the President regularly conducts official business
  • disclosure of large donors to politically active nonprofits
  • disclosure of online ad spending
  • disclosure of deferred prosecution agreements

Campaign finance reform

We demand:

  • a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United
  • small-donor public financing
  • a restructured Federal Election Commission
  • full bans on foreign money in U.S. elections

Ethics

We demand:

  • a strengthened Office of Congressional Ethics and Office of Government Ethics
  • a code of ethics for the Supreme Court
  • publication of all executive branch ethics waivers
  • requiring the President to put certain assets into blind trusts
  • a ban on members of Congress from serving on for-profit boards and trading in individual stocks
  • a lifetime ban on lobbying by members of Congress

Checks and balances

We demand:

  • reform to the size and structure of the Supreme Court
  • guaranteed independence for the Department of Justice and FBI
  • restoration of congressional war powers
  • requiring Congress vote when the President declares an emergency
  • checks on the pardon power

We’ll be tracking candidates’ positions on these issues, because our next President needs to make democracy reform their first priority.