BEFORE YOU VOTE LOCALLY REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2016
Please read the party ideal We affirm — as did the Declaration of Independence: that all are created equal, endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our standing in world affairs has declined significantly — our enemies no longer fear us and our friends no longer trust us. the current President of the United States — to impose a social and cultural revolution upon the American people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation or other categories.
Please read the party ideal We affirm — as did the Declaration of
Independence: that all are created equal, endowed
by their Creator with inalienable rights of life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
Our standing in world affairs has declined
significantly — our enemies no longer fear us and
our friends no longer trust us.
the
current President of the United States — to impose
a social and cultural revolution upon the American
people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination
to include sexual orientation or other categories.
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• R E P U B L I C A N P L A T F O R M 2 0 1 6 •<br />
the states and the people retain authority over<br />
all unenumerated powers. In obedience to that<br />
principle, we condemn the current Administration’s<br />
unconstitutional expansion into areas beyond<br />
those specifically enumerated, including bullying<br />
of state and local governments in matters ranging<br />
from voter identification (ID) laws to immigration,<br />
from healthcare programs to land use decisions,<br />
and from forced education curricula to school<br />
restroom policies. We pledge to restore the proper<br />
balance and vertical separation of powers between<br />
the federal government and state governments —<br />
the governments closest to, and most reflective<br />
of, the American people. We encourage states to<br />
reinvigorate their traditional role as the laboratories<br />
of democracy, propelling the nation forward<br />
through local and state innovation.<br />
Big government undermines federalism<br />
through more than 1,100 grants-in-aid programs<br />
that consume more than one-sixth of the federal<br />
budget for matters that should be the exclusive<br />
responsibility of the states. Through these programs,<br />
money originating from state taxpayers is returned<br />
to the states, usually greatly reduced, with myriad<br />
strings attached. These grants turn state and<br />
local elected officials into agents of the federal<br />
government. The web of conditions and regulations<br />
— especially the requirement of matching funds that<br />
comes with federal grants — transforms recipients<br />
into appendages of the Washington bureaucracy.<br />
We call upon Congress to help a Republican<br />
president to reduce and ultimately eliminate this<br />
system of conditioned grants so that state and local<br />
taxpayers can decide for themselves what is best<br />
for their own communities.<br />
Honest Elections and the<br />
Electoral College<br />
We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate<br />
Compact and any other scheme to abolish or<br />
distort the procedures of the Electoral College. An<br />
unconstitutional effort to impose National Popular<br />
Vote would be a grave threat to our federal system<br />
and a guarantee of corruption, as every ballot box<br />
in every state would offer a chance to steal the<br />
presidency. We urge state legislatures that have<br />
voted for this proposal to rescind their approval.<br />
Honest Elections and the Right to Vote<br />
Honest elections are the foundation of<br />
representative government. We pledge to protect<br />
the voting rights of every citizen, as well as their<br />
rights of conscience when they are harassed<br />
or denied a job because of their contributions<br />
to a candidate or a cause. We support state<br />
efforts to ensure ballot access for the elderly, the<br />
handicapped, military personnel, and all legitimate<br />
voters. We urge state and local officials to take<br />
all appropriate steps to allow voters to cast their<br />
ballots in a timely manner. We are concerned,<br />
however, that some voting procedures may<br />
be open to abuse. For this reason, we support<br />
legislation to require proof of citizenship when<br />
registering to vote and secure photo ID when<br />
voting. We strongly oppose litigation against states<br />
exercising their sovereign authority to enact such<br />
laws. In addition, to guarantee that everyone’s vote<br />
is counted, we urge that electronic voting systems<br />
have a voter-verified paper audit trail. We urge<br />
every state to join the Interstate Voter Registration<br />
Cross Check Program to keep voter rolls accurate<br />
and to prevent people from voting in more than<br />
one state in the same election. To guard against<br />
foreign involvement in our elections, we call for<br />
vigilance regarding online credit card contributions<br />
to candidates and campaigns.<br />
The members of our Armed Forces must not<br />
be denied the basic rights that they are defending<br />
for others. Our troops, wherever stationed, must be<br />
allowed to vote in a timely manner. We call upon<br />
the entire military chain of command to ensure the<br />
voting rights of our citizen soldiers.<br />
The Constitution gives Congress authority<br />
to conduct the decennial census “in such Manner<br />
as they shall by Law direct.” In order to preserve<br />
the principle of one person, one vote, we urge our<br />
elected representatives to ensure that citizenship,<br />
rather than mere residency, be made the basis for<br />
the apportionment of representatives among the<br />
states.<br />
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