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A change in direction for Voter Muscle, by John Hilt

In the aftermath of the bizarre 2020 election, I built this website for the purpose of promoting viable local third parties that could compete with the Republican party, without siphoning votes from it. This was to be done by installing the Approval Voting election system in counties and communities nationwide. At the time, there was a rebellious mood among the Republican rank-and-file, who were enraged at the GOP establishment’s desertion of President Trump. The time was ideal to build a new mechanism that could oust the coastal elitists.

In the months since January, election audits and the 2022 midterms have moved to the limelight, and interest in third parties has waned. The new battlefield is now the dozens of parent-vs-school-board fights that are raging nationwide, over Critical Race Theory indoctrination in public school classrooms.

I still am totally committed to Approval Voting, and to the introduction of third parties that can leash the establishment elitists. But the cultural Marxists must fought on whatever battlefield presents itself… which at the moment, is the public school classroom.

For information on Approval Voting, the reader can refer to past posts, February through June of 2021. Posts starting July 2021 will pertain to our new project, the introduction of critical thinking skills training into public schools. (see the ‘About’ page.)

In closing: for readers who wish to explore alternative political parties who are active locally, one of the most active is the American Patriot Party of the US. (TAPPUS) https://www.tappus.org/get-involved I recommend going to their ‘get involved’ page, and signing up to do ‘research’. Or, email them from the contact page.

Voter Muscle was founded for the purpose of expanding the electability of populist candidates, in response to the abandoning of President Trump by the GOP establishment. Our hope was to pave the way for independent candidates by establishing Range Voting as the election system in a growing number of municipalities and counties.

Research of the last four months has shown that Approval Voting, a simplified form of Range Voting, is a better tool for our purposes. Here are the factors that makes approval voting the more feasible tool: 1) many people are suspicious of the more complicated forms of voting currently being proposed in various parts of the country. People suspect these schemes are being pushed by unscrupulous politicians, for nefarious purposes. These suspicions make election reform a hard sell. 2)approval voting is a simple system that can be done on the same ballots and voting machines currently in use. 3)the approval voting system can be easily explained, and understood by anyone.

So, approval voting has important advantages over range voting. And, it retains all of the desirable attributes of range voting; most importantly allowing people to vote for a third party, guilt-free, without siphoning votes from or weakening either major-party candidate.

The form of approval voting we will adopt is “approval voting with runoff between top two”. This system is recommended by political scientists, and results in highly transparent elections with maximum voter satisfaction.

Below is the link to an excellent analysis of the advantages of approval voting. Skip to the last section of the article, “Breaking the Duopoly”. https://www.utahcer.org/breaking_the_duopoly

When researching voting systems, bear in mind that almost without exception, promoters of various voting systems are progressives who have the ultimate goal of degrading the link between conservative districts and their ‘radical’ representatives. Progressives prefer a system where representatives are more responsive to Washington than to their constituents. Whatever system they currently promote, it is seen by them as merely a stepping-stone to their ultimate goal: large ‘multi-representative districts’, where each representative has no precisely defined zone….and no town hall where he goes to face the constituents.

This is not to say that us ‘right-wing radicals’ cannot also use these fresh, newly-minted voting concepts to our advantage. The current fad of multi-choice voting may or may not be an enduring one; in either case, it behooves us conservatives to boldly leap into the fray and experiment with the most palatable voting system. This will not be easy. It appears that Republican rank-and-file are getting over their anger at Trump’s abandonment by the GOP elite; they are once again pinning their hopes on a ‘takeover’ of the party in 2022; approval voting will be a hard sell when the rank-and-file are assuming that a 2022 victory is already in the bag.

Nevertheless, the enabling of a third party is necessary, even if only as a back-up plan. And the project must be begun now.

Bear this in mind: for 55 years, the leadership of both major parties has been to the left of their rank-and-file. For six decades we have watched Christianity kicked out of schools and out of the public sector; the Black family destroyed by government policies; the steady decline of the fabric of society; misuse of the treasury and destruction of the dollar….to name just a few….and all the while, our government officials have spouted feel-good all-American phrases, as if they were totally in tune with their constituents. This situation will not change, in the long run….regardless of what happens in 2022. Without third parties to the right of the major parties, the party leadership will nearly always be to the left of their constituents….because of pressure from the major institutions: Hollywood, the media, banks, the intelligentsia, and the corporations.

So, when confronted with a seemingly insurmountable task, and when possessing only limited tools with which to work, it is important to look for the weak link. Changing the makeup or philosophy of the major institutions? Not going to happen. Reducing or eliminating the influence of the major institutions on our leaders in Washington? Another non-starter.

The weak link is the ability of Washington to micromanage, to pass edicts down to communities governing all aspects of their behavior. Break this link, and all the moralizing and policy recommendations of the media and the intelligentsia will not amount to a hill of beans….if the recommendations can’t be acted upon by the government. This is why we need a right-wing party, one with a philosophy of voluntaryism….local government, family, community. The proper election reforms, instigated in a handful of communities, could start the process.

This post is a work in progress, and will be updated on a regular basis through June/July 2021, and sporadically after that.

Below are tools you can use when writing a letter to your state legislator, regarding: 1)addition of a Range Voting option to SB 59, or 2)voting down the entire bill. Some of these tools will seem more valuable to you than others. Pick and choose those that you feel most comfortable with.

Many of the articles are written by political scientists and are difficult for a layman to decipher. I have condensed pertinent information from such articles, and written explanatory paragraphs.

When reading the full-length articles, one should skim over the charts and attempt to glean nuggets of information from the written portions. Look for bullet points that will be easily remembered by your congressman.

Article #1: “Instant Runoff Voting: Looks Good–But Look Again” by Stephen H. Unger 3/26/2007, Columbia University. Unger’s main point is that in ranked-choice voting, the act of moving an independent candidate to the number one position is such a huge step that the voter will not do it, for fear of vote-splitting….just the same as in the traditional voting system that we currently use. So, RCV only benefits non-serious candidates whose only goal is to make a political statement. http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~unger/articles/irv.html

Here is Unger’s statement from page 4: “My current assessment is that IRV (*same as ranked-choice) would not do too badly with respect to third parties as long as they are not serious contenders for actual election victories. Supporters of such parties would be less hesitant to give them top rankings, with their “lesser evil” choice in second place. This would lead to a significant increase in votes cast for third party candidates, stimulating their growth, giving their viewpoints on issues more public exposure, and increasing their influence on the behavior of major party candidates. However, should one or more third parties grow to the point where they become serious contenders for actual election victories, the likelihood of anomalous IRV election scenarios would greatly increase. In such situations, we would be much safer with RV or AV type elections.”

06/04/2021 Update – article 2

Article #2: “The Rock Solid Case Against Ballot Measure 2” 10/28/20 by John Sturgeon. In the fourth paragraph from the end, author describes the dumping of RCV by voters in Pierce County, Washington: “…ranked choice voting kicked to the curb by 71% of the voters…” NOTE: most of this article is a lengthy description of the many faults of the system that were exposed in various cities and states. That type of information is complicated, and difficult for your congressman to remember and pass along to his associates. The 71% humiliation of RCV in Pierce County is a great bullet point that is easily remembered. https://mustreadalaska.com/the-rock-solid-case-against-ballot-measure-2/

Letter for distribution to Pennsylvania activists and attendees at the 6/7/21 Harrisburg Second Amendment Rally, regarding Pennsylvania Senate Bill 59 (implementation of municipal ranked choice voting)

Dear activists,

As you are no doubt aware, ‘ranked-choice’ voting is a clumsy, unworkable system that is occasionally pushed by well-meaning Independents, but more often by unscrupulous politicians with nefarious intentions. Were it to be unleashed in the collar counties of metropolitan areas, it most likely would act as a smoke screen….muting the debates between popular local candidates, with a cacophony of gibberish from non-serious candidates intent on pushing cultural marxism.

However, other forms of multi-choice voting have potential to be used productively in the more solidly red portions of your state. The Range Voting system, considered vastly superior to ranked-choice voting by most political scientists, could expand the influence of Constitution Party and TAPPUS candidates….without siphoning votes from, or weakening, the GOP or other major party. Nor would the major parties be required to give up their closed primaries.

Pennsylvania activists should consider recommending to their legislators an amendment to SB 59, giving municipalities the option of Range Voting instead of ranked-choice. (or, alternatively, you could ask your legislator to vote down the bill entirely)

Below is a link to a post containing information you need, in order to write a convincing letter to your legislator. https://votermuscle.com/2021/06/tools-to-promote-rv-to-your-pennsylvania-legislator/

The above link will be regularly updated with new material during June and July. Care will be taken to use materials that are understood by lay persons.

Sincerely, John P Hilt [email protected] (312)259-5842 (mobile) member Great Awakening, Palatine IL, a citizens action group http://thegreatawakening.ning.com/

Letter for distribution to former candidates for municipal, county and district public office, regarding a plan for establishment of a permanent seat in the public square for populist ideas.

Dear activist,

Voter Muscle is a project to expand the viability of populist candidates at the local level, via election reform. We hope to recruit you as a spokesman for the project. As someone who has campaigned for public office, your participation would supercharge our endeavor.

Should you decide to support the project, your function would be to participate in zoom panel discussions with activist groups.

Our proposed election reform would give independent candidates, and their ideas, a permanent place in the public mind…regardless of the outcome of the election. This would be accomplished without siphoning votes from the GOP or other major party.

Please peruse the website, at your convenience. Attached are recommended readings from the site: https://votermuscle.com/2021/05/a-new-direction-for-2a-activists/ and https://votermuscle.com/rv-simply-explained/

Yours very truly, John P Hilt (312)259-5842 (mobile) [email protected] member Great Awakening, Palatine IL, a citizens action group http://thegreatawakening.ning.com/

Letter for distribution to 2A county/state sanctuary activists, regarding a plan for solidifying the 2A sanctuaries against the possibility of more election disasters in ’22 and ’24.

Dear activist,

You, as a second amendment activist responsible for the wave of 2A sanctuary counties and states, are in a unique position to unite and solidify the populist regions of the country.

Because your 2A organizations are still intact, and your members still communicating with one another, you are the ideal vehicle to instigate a wave of populist candidates at the local level… candidates who will be rock-solid supporters of your region’s sanctuary policy.

This summer I plan to begin an election-reform ballot initiative in a rural county. (county yet to be selected). The plan is to install Range Voting (not ‘ranked-choice’ voting) as the election system in one or more counties in Western or Southern U.S., for the purpose of expanding the viability of populist and independent candidates. I hope to enlist the support of your organization.

It is important to unify, and strengthen the resolve of, the second amendment sanctuaries…thereby preempting the D.C. establishment’s opportunity to test the resolve of one of the sanctuaries. Unification of the 2A sanctuaries takes on an additional urgency, when one considers the possibility of more election disasters in ’22 and ’24.

This unification and strengthening of resolve will occur if, in a handful of counties, there is a sudden proliferation of limited-government independent candidates running for local public office. Second amendment, pro-life, parent’s rights, conservative school board candidates…all of the ideas that promote freedom would be on display at election time. These ideas would remain in the public mind until such time as they could flourish; and, the gaining of a seat in the public square for populist ideas would be long-lasting and permanent, and not tied to the success or failure of the particular candidates who had espoused the ideas.

And, this would be done in such a way that it would not siphon votes from the GOP, or split the vote. The county Republican party organizations would still be vibrant, able to grow, and able to attract freedom-loving statesmen rather than weaklings.

Here is why you and your organization should support the RV project, even if you are not fans of multiple-choice voting:

1)Even if the project never expands beyond a handful of counties, it will serve notice to the coastal elites that those of us in the hinterlands are considering alternatives to ruling-class authoritarianism. And, news of the project’s partial success will keep our activists motivated and the movement robust.

2)The project could spawn spin-offs….perhaps spawning a movement to get conservatives into the thousands of vacant GOP precinct committeeman positions.

3)All of us activists…pro-life, second amendment, parent’s rights, etc….are fighting the same battle: the destruction of cultural marxism, and the return to the foundations of our nation. In range voting counties, all of these populist groups would have a prominent voice at election time. After the election, the best ideas would remain in the public mind, until such time as the ideas could flourish.

4)The range voting system has attributes that prevent vote-splitting: it is totally benign and will not siphon votes from the GOP or other major party.

5)The RV system will add teeth to your region’s sanctuary status by ensuring that officials faithfully execute the will of the people.

6)As a promoter of RV, your job will be easy because of two major selling points: a)election-reform initiatives always contain a mechanism for repeal, in case the public is dissatisfied. b)Under RV, counting of ballots is done at the precinct….there is no need to transport them to a central location.

At this point in time, aggressive action is important. Even if the RV project turns out to be short-lived or otherwise limited in scope, it is still the correct follow-up move to the 2A sanctuary movement.

Bear in mind that dramatic, large-scale successes are not necessary for our strategy to be highly impactful. The continued motivation of our activists, and the cementing of the resolve of the sanctuary counties, can be achieved with small but noteworthy successes.

Available upon request is an outline of the RV project’s assets, goals and strategy. I am available at any time to meet on skype or zoom.

Please read the related article: “Letter #2 to 2A Activists” https://votermuscle.com/2021/04/letter-2-to-2a-sanctuary-county-activists/ this article gives some details of the RV project.

Sincerely, John P Hilt [email protected] (312)259-5842 (mobile) https://votermuscle.com/ member Great Awakening, Palatine IL, a citizen’s action group

*”A new direction for 2A activists” is an updated, reedited version of the 4/15/21 post, “Letter to 2A sanctuary county activists”

This post will add details to the previous post, “Letter to 2A sanctuary county activists”. Letter #1 was a summary of how the RV project can unify 2A sanctuary counties and maintain motivation of activists. Letter #2 will summarize the strategy for implementing the plan.

Dear activist,

The purpose of the Range Voting project is to expand the viability of populist candidates in conservative regions of the country. We want to use local 2A activist groups as vehicles to advance the project. The first target county will be selected from counties in which there are local issues that agitate the citizens and propel them to activism, thus making the citizenry open to unique solutions. The ideal target county would have one or more elected officials who has been ignoring constituents by refusing to support a proposed or already-active 2A sanctuary status.

The target county should have one or both of the following: 1)Councilmen or other elected officials who are at odds with constituents on a particular issue. 2)A well-known local public figure, or a lesser-known charismatic individual, who will promote to the public and become the face of the local RV project.

The above-mentioned conditions will be necessary, for the RV project to be successful. All conservatives are dissatisfied with the 2020 election and the condition of Federal politics; but, unless they are also dissatisfied with local politics they are unlikely to consider changes to the local election system.

Assuming you’ve read Letter #1, you no doubt will have questions. First and foremost will be: 1)How do I know this RV election system will work like you say it will? 2)How will I convince the people of the county that it will work?

These are actually two very different questions. You, the activist, can be convinced by facts gleaned from the history of multiple-choice voting. The people of the county can only be convinced by someone they know, or feel that they know. That means either a known public figure, or a lesser-known but charismatic individual, who can sell himself. Facts are still important, but take a back seat, when promoting to the public.

Here are the facts that will be important to you, the activist, and will be interesting, but less important, to the public: 1)Ranked-choice voting (similar to Range Voting) has been used often since 1850, in districts that have multiple at-large representatives. In most of the cases, RCV has allowed the election of popular candidates who would have failed under traditional-style voting. 2)The effectiveness of RCV degrades drastically when tried in single-representative districts. Range Voting has been shown to be much more effective. 3)Ranked-choice voting arose due to the need for an effective election system in multiple-representative districts. It has spread in the last 20 years only because of name recognition. Nearly all political scientists agree that the lesser-known Range Voting is a much more effective system. 4)It may be more palatable to implement RV in your county on a limited basis; i.e. for school board only, or councilmen only. This is common in the history of multiple-choice voting.

Here are the facts that will be important to the people of the county; these facts are simple, easy to remember, and can easily be passed on to one’s neighbors. 1)In districts that have implemented some form of multiple-choice voting, the citizens have the option of reversing the decision, should they become dissatisfied with the new system. This option has been used by citizens on multiple occasions. 2)Range Voting allows votes to be counted in the precinct in which they were cast. There is no need to transport ballots to a central location for counting.

This post will be updated soon, so that it includes links to documents that support all claims made regarding history of voting systems.

Letter for distribution to second amendment sanctuary county activists, regarding populist expansion via local election reform. From John Hilt [email protected]

Dear activist,

This summer I plan to begin an election-reform ballot initiative in a rural county. (county yet to be selected). The plan is to install Range Voting (not ‘ranked-choice’ voting) as the election system in one or more counties in Western or Southern U.S., for the purpose of expanding the viability of populist and independent candidates. I hope to enlist the support of your organization.

The recent explosion in the number of second amendment sanctuary counties is heartening for patriots, and is a good sign for the salvation of our nation. There now exists an excellent opportunity for 2A activists to solidify their movement by allying with the range-voting project.

It is important to unify, and strengthen the resolve of, the second amendment counties…thereby preempting the D.C. establishment’s opportunity to test the resolve of one of the counties. Unification of the 2A counties takes on an additional urgency, when one considers the possibility of more election disasters in ’22 and ’24.

This unification and strengthening of resolve will occur if, in a handful of counties, there is a sudden proliferation of limited-government independent candidates running for local public office. Second amendment, pro-life, parent’s rights, conservative school board candidates…all of the ideas that promote freedom would be on display at election time. These ideas would remain in the public mind until such time as they could flourish; and, the gaining of a seat in the public square for Enlightenment-type ideas would be long-lasting and permanent, and not tied to the success or failure of the particular candidates who had espoused the ideas.

And, this would be done in such a way that it would not siphon votes from the GOP, or split the vote. The county Republican party organizations would still be vibrant, able to grow, and able to attract freedom-loving statesmen rather than weaklings.

Here is why you and your organization should support the RV project, even if you are not fans of multiple-choice voting:

1)Even if the project never expands beyond a handful of counties, it will serve notice to the coastal elites that those of us in the hinterlands are considering alternatives to ruling-class authoritarianism. News of the project’s partial success will motivate other activists.

2)The project could spawn spin-offs….perhaps spawning a movement to get conservatives into the thousands of vacant GOP precinct committeeman positions.

3)All of us activists…pro-life, second amendment, parent’s rights, etc….are fighting the same battle: the destruction of cultural marxism, and the return to the foundations of our nation. In range voting counties, all of these groups would have a seat in the public square at election time. The best ideas would remain in the public mind, until such time as the ideas could flourish.

4)The range voting system has attributes that prevent vote-splitting: it is totally benign and will not siphon votes from the GOP or other major party.

At this point in time, aggressive action is important. Even if the RV project turns out to be short-lived or otherwise limited in scope, it is still the correct follow-up move to the 2A sanctuary movement.

Bear in mind that dramatic, large-scale successes are not necessary for our strategy to be highly impactful. The continued motivation of our activists, and the cementing of the resolve of the sanctuary counties, can be achieved with small but noteworthy successes.

Available upon request is an outline of the RV project’s assets, goals and strategy. I am available at any time to meet on skype or zoom.

Please read the follow-up article: “Letter #2 to 2A Activists” https://votermuscle.com/2021/04/letter-2-to-2a-sanctuary-county-activists/

Sincerely, John P Hilt [email protected] (312)259-5842 (mobile) https://votermuscle.com/ member Great Awakening, Palatine IL, a citizen’s action group

Letter for distribution to limited-government activist organizations, regarding technical support for an election-reform ballot initiative. From: John Hilt, [email protected]

Dear activist,

This summer I plan to launch an election-reform ballot initiative in a rural county. (county yet to be selected) We will need technical assistance: in particular, we will need a political scientist and a social media manager, to guide the promotional campaign. Would your organization be willing to commit the services of two such individuals?

Like all activist groups, your organization is already laser focused on a particular mission, and will be loath to commit time and energy to a side project. We understand this, and will keep our drain on your energies to a minimum.

Our plan is to install Range Voting (not ‘ranked-choice’ voting) as the election system in one or more Mid-western or Southern counties, for the purpose of expanding the viability of populist and independent candidates. Here is why your organization should support us, even if you are not a fan of multiple-choice voting:

1) Even if the project never expands beyond a handful of counties, it will serve notice to the coastal elites that those of us in the hinterlands are considering alternatives to ruling-class authoritarianism. News of the project’s partial success will motivate other activists.

2) The project could spawn spin-offs….perhaps a movement to get conservatives into the thousands of vacant GOP precinct committeeman positions.

3) All of us activists….pro-life, second amendment, parents rights, etc….are fighting the same battle: the defeat of cultural marxism, and the return to the foundations of our nation. In range voting counties, all of these groups would have a seat in the public square at election time. The best ideas would remain in the public mind, until such time as the ideas could flourish.

4)The range voting system has attributes that prevent vote-splitting; it is totally benign and will not siphon votes from the GOP or other major party.

I’ve taken the liberty of attaching a summary of strategy: https://votermuscle.com/strategy/

Local activists hold the key to our nation’s salvation.

Yours very truly, John P Hilt – member, Great Awakening, Palatine IL, a citizen’s action group – [email protected]

Letter for distribution to Tea Party groups and limited-government activists, regarding expansion of a benign populist party. from John Hilt [email protected]

Dear activists,

For several months I’ve been working on a plan for local-level expansion of a benign populist party, one that would not siphon votes away from the Republican party, nor act as a vote-splitter. The plan involves establishing Range Voting in a handful of counties, as a test of populist-party expansion.

Even if this expanding populist party only fielded candidates for local offices, it would nevertheless remain a threat to the coastal-elites who control the GOP. The fact that voters had an alternative choice would force the ruling class to adjust policies accordingly.

Of course, the ideal course of action to effect GOP policy would be to get conservatives into the thousands of precinct committeeman positions that remain vacant, nationwide. I am all for that, and would be more than willing to work on such a project, while also remaining committed to the populist expansion plan.

As an activist yourself, you no doubt have your own plan for America’s salvation. Do not discard this letter. Pass it along to your associates. Consider it a good Plan B. Let’s start now and implement the plan in one or two counties.

Attached is a page from my website. Please pass it along to like-minded activists. https://votermuscle.com/populist-expansion/

Sincerely, John P Hilt – member, Great Awakening, Palatine IL, a citizen’s action group