The United States, the world’s oldest and grandest democracy, is not healthy and has become an unwanted spectacle. The year 2000 Presidential electoral count, and the fiasco that followed, look like a trailer compared to what is happening right now.

Going further, this is only likely to exacerbate the issue. Partisan politics and the deepening chasm have added to this fiasco. As if the complexities posed due to the Worldwide pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 were not enough, there are different rules across every state in regard to voting practices, their counting and announcing of results. Add to this the unwanted and unfounded claims of lost votes, misplaced ballots that flood the social media.

As a result, the entire electoral process has come under greater scrutiny and a lot of doubt. The entire electoral process looks undermined and gamed. This has to stop. Faith in the electoral process needs to be restored. We cannot just push this election away and move on to the next and wait for another fiasco to unfold. We need to have Electoral Reforms.

1. Introduce a Common Electoral Code across all the states to ensure uniform procedures of voting, counting, and declaration of results
   1. Total votes to be counted must be open at the outset (including mailed-in and cast ballots).
   2. Keep Open and transparent audit of countable ballots.
   3. Rules for counting Postal ballots must be common across the states
2. Transition to Simplified Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as practiced elsewhere in the world OR evolve into an even better and a secure one. Paper ballots are archaic. They need to go!
3. Expand the Maine and Nebraska model across the nation. Make it a representative democracy.
4. Mandate, Congressionally, the creation of the Office of the Federal Election Commissioner (career bureaucrat - passed civil services equivalent).
   1. Non-partisan post
   2. The post reports only to the Legislative and the Judiciary
5. Centralize the declaration of results by the Office of the Federal Election Commissioner. Only they will project and declare the winners. Remove the role of outside agencies and networks from calling the results

A change has to come in the way elections in the US are conducted and reported.