Beto O’Rourke

Beto O’Rourke is a POTUS1 candidate. Scroll down for his detailed policy positions.

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Candidate’s Grade

A

Grading Methodology

A+: comprehensive democracy plan with impressive public financing plan, promise to fix democracy first

A: comprehensive democracy plan with a strong policy in each category

B: notable proposals but overall plan lacks depth regarding scope and/or implementation

C: few democracy reform proposals, campaign makes infrequent mentions of reform

D: no meaningful democracy plan

F: active opponent of democracy

Candidate Policy Positions

Everyone’s Vote Should Count (Equally)

End gerrymandering with independent redistricting commissions
Statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico
End the Electoral College
Openess to ranked choice voting

Voting Rights

Automatic voter registration (with pre-registration for 16 and 17 year olds)
Same-day voter registration
Amend Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to make clear that even seemingly race-neutral election regulations are unlawful when they result in disproportionate impact on racial minorities
End voter ID
End unjust purging of voter rolls
Make Election Day a holiday
Expand early voting
Expand voting by mail
Make voting more accessible

Money in Politics

Public financing of elections via tax-deductible contributions matched up to $500
Ban PAC contributions to campaigns
Limit contributions to issue PACs, inaugural committees & post-retirement foundations to $2,000 (indexed with inflation)
Require public companies, large private companies and all government contractors to disclose all political contributions and federal lobbying efforts and institute real-time transparency for donations of $1000 or more by requiring disclosure within 48 hours

Outside-the-box Reforms

Term limits for Supreme Court Justices, Senators and members of Congress
Redirect resources at the Department of Justice towards aggressive enforcement of current laws protecting voting rights
Ban federal lobbying by anyone who was in a federal elected office and prohibit senior staff from federal lobbying for a period equal to the time they were in such a role or 6 years – whichever is greater; ban anyone who was in a federally-elected office or Senate-approved office or anyone reporting directly to them from working for or owning any part of an entity they regulated while in government, for a period equal to the time they were in such a role or 6 years – whichever is greater; ban anyone who was in a federally-elected office or Senate-approved office or anyone reporting directly to them from working for or owning any part of an entity they regulated while in government, for a period equal to the time they were in such a role or 6 years – whichever is greater

Candidate Overview

O’Rourke has pledged to fix democracy first!

Overall, his democracy platform is quite ambitious, especially his voting rights plan, but there are a few improvements he could make. Beto has come out in support of public financing of elections, but due to a high cap on fund-matching his plan is unlikely to diversify the donor pool—largely defeating the purpose of public financing.

Click here to see his full democracy reform platform.

Here are some policies he could adopt to improve his platform:

A full end to felon disenfranchisement
A firm commitment to ranked-choice voting

If you want to see Beto O’Rourke embrace these policies, check the bottom of the page for his staffers contact information.

In His Own Words

“A new democracy that is revived because we have returned power to the people: no pacs, no gerrymandering, automatic and same-day voter registration to bring in more voters, and a new Voting Rights Act to get rid of the barriers in place now. That’s how we each have a voice in our democracy and make this economy work for everyone. ”

“They can restrict who gets a say in the composition of our elected officials and cement their grip on the levers of government. It is no surprise then, that participation is lowest among groups that have remained underrepresented in the halls of power.”