Allow voter registration at the polls on Election Day and during early voting. SDR boosts overall turnout 3–6 percentage points, increases youth turnout 3–7 points, and Black voter turnout 2–17 points higher in SDR states. Registration reaches 88.8% in SDR states versus 77.3% without. Fraud rate: effectively zero — conducted in person under bipartisan poll worker oversight with stricter ID requirements than mail registration.

• Allow same-day registration at all polling locations during early voting and on Election Day
• Provisional ballots available for any eligibility disputes — no voter turned away
• SDR and AVR are complementary: AVR registers everyone it can reach; SDR catches everyone it misses

The documented fraud rate across all universal VBM states is 0.000043% — approximately 4 cases per 10 million ballots. Oregon has recorded 12 documented fraud cases in more than 100 million ballots since 2000. Zero universal VBM states have ever experienced a voter fraud scandal. Colorado's adoption reduced election administration costs by 40%. 81% of Oregonians prefer the system. No partisan skew has been documented in any peer-reviewed study.

• Every registered voter automatically receives a mail ballot for every election
• Retain full in-person voting infrastructure for voters who prefer it — no one is forced to vote by mail
• Prepaid return postage on all ballots — cost is a voting barrier
• Ballot tracking and cure processes for signature mismatches — no ballot rejected without notice and opportunity to fix

Voters rank candidates by preference. If no candidate achieves a majority on the first count, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes redistribute. Eliminates the spoiler effect. Maine uses RCV statewide with less than 1% ballot confusion. NYC's 2021 rollout found 90%+ of voters across every ethnic group found it simple. Australia has used preferential voting since 1918 with approximately 90% turnout.

• RCV for all federal primary and general elections — House, Senate, and presidential
• Eliminates spoiler dynamics: third-party and independent candidates no longer "take votes" from major candidates
• Incentivizes coalition-building: candidates seek second-choice votes, reducing negative campaigning
• National voter education campaign funded by federal election administration appropriations

Partisan gerrymandering provides an estimated 16-seat House advantage. States with independent commissions produce 33% competitive districts versus 21% under legislative maps. 74% of House districts that flipped in 2024 were in states with fairer map processes. Politicians drawing their own districts is the single most anti-democratic practice that is entirely within statutory reach to fix.

• Mandatory independent citizen redistricting commissions in all states for congressional and state legislative maps
• Commission membership from application-based qualified citizen pools — no current or recent officeholders, campaign workers, or party officials
• Public hearings required; supermajority voting for map approval; partisan considerations explicitly excluded from criteria
• Federal court oversight during transition period; DOJ authority to invalidate non-compliant maps

NYC's 6:1 small-dollar matching system increased small-donor participation from 30% to 90% of census blocks across the city. The For the People Act's matching system was projected by the CBO to reduce the deficit by $1 billion over 10 years, funded by corporate settlement assessments rather than general taxes. Every peer democracy restricts or replaces private money with public systems.

• 6:1 small-dollar matching for all federal elections — $200 donation becomes $1,400 in matched funding, making small donors competitive with large ones
• Ban all PACs, Super PACs, and dark money groups from federal elections
• Ban corporate political donations entirely; cap individual contributions
• Funded through corporate settlement assessments — not general tax revenue

Federal lobbying hit $4.44 billion in 2024. 50% of retiring senators and 33% of retiring House members become lobbyists at an average 1,452% pay increase. In 2025, 866 members and staffers moved from Capitol Hill to K Street — a 60% jump over 2024. Penalty for cooling-off violations: $200. This is not regulation. It is participation.

• 10-year cooling-off period before former members of Congress may register as lobbyists — criminal penalties for violations
• Lifetime lobbying ban for anyone who lobbies on behalf of foreign governments
• Independent Lobbying Enforcement Commission with subpoena authority and real investigative power
• Real-time disclosure of all lobbying contacts within 48 hours — no more quarterly lag
• Ban lobbyist-bundled campaign contributions entirely
• Bar registered lobbyists from congressional floor access
• All enforcement subject to Universal Mandatory Duty to Act Standard — credible complaints investigated within 30 days

87% of Americans support congressional term limits — one of the highest consensus figures in US polling. Michigan's experience with 6-year House limits showed they empowered lobbyists and weakened the legislature. Michigan voters loosened limits to 12 years in 2022. The lesson: moderate limits paired with robust anti-corruption reform work; short limits without it backfire.

• 12-year total congressional term limit — 6 House terms or 2 Senate terms; grandfather current members through a transition period
• 18-year staggered terms for Supreme Court Justices with two appointments per presidential term (65–78% bipartisan support)
• Term limits alone are not sufficient — they must be paired with anti-lobbying reform and public financing or they simply accelerate the revolving door
• The 12-year cap, combined with Pillars 8 and 9, addresses the underlying corruption term limits alone cannot fix

Since Shelby County gutted preclearance in 2013: 29 states passed 94 restrictive laws; 1,688 polling places closed in formerly covered jurisdictions; purge rates rose 40% in freed states; Black voters wait 29% longer and are 74% more likely to wait 30+ minutes. The preclearance mechanism worked. It was eliminated before the work was done.

• Full restoration of VRA Section 5 preclearance — updated coverage formula targeting any state that has enacted voter suppression measures since 2013
• Require free, universally available government-issued photo ID for any state that imposes ID requirements — 21.3 million Americans currently lack the required documents
• Automatic federal bailout process for jurisdictions that demonstrate a 10-year clean record
• DOJ VRA enforcement subject to Universal Mandatory Duty to Act Standard — credible complaints investigated within 30 days; 180-day disposition deadline; citizens may sue to compel action

DC has 712,000 residents — more than Wyoming and Vermont — pays more federal taxes per capita than any state, maintains an AAA bond rating, and has 20+ consecutive balanced budgets. It has zero senators and zero voting House members. DC's disenfranchisement is inseparable from racial voter suppression — Congress stripped DC voting rights in 1874 specifically to disenfranchise Black Washingtonians. Puerto Rico has 3.2 million US citizens, contributed $5.39 billion in federal taxes, and voted for statehood in four consecutive referendums — most recently 58.6% in 2024.

• Grant statehood through congressional action — the Constitution authorizes it; the will of the affected people demands it
• The Insular Cases (1901) that established Puerto Rico's territorial status are explicitly racist — they have no legitimate legal or moral standing
• Taxation without representation is un-American — the principle that founded this country applies equally here

98% of 2024 votes were cast on paper — close the final 2% gap. Only 5 states currently require genuine risk-limiting audits (RLAs). CISA has confirmed through multiple election cycles: no evidence that any malicious actors changed, altered, or deleted votes. The threat to US elections is not hacking — it is the erosion of public trust through disinformation. Paper trails and real audits are how you rebuild it.

• Mandatory paper ballots for all federal elections — no voting system without a voter-verified paper audit trail
• Mandatory risk-limiting audits in every state after every federal election — statistical sampling that can detect errors at any scale
• Federal funding for any jurisdiction needing equipment upgrades to meet paper ballot requirements
• CISA election security partnerships made permanent and fully funded — not subject to annual appropriations uncertainty