DELEGATE SELECTION
Delegates will be selected to reflect the general population of the United States. Selection will be done by an independent non-partisan organization using well-established statistical techniques such that those selected reflect the wider population with a 99% confidence level and nearly 5% margin of error. Delegates will be drawn from all persons who reside in the USA, major territories and districts. The pool of prospective delegates will then be screened based on criteria described below. The goal is a Delegate group that closely reflects the population of the US and thereby incorporates the views of the country.
It is a great honor to be selected to serve your country and to represent your fellow Americans.
QUALIFICATIONS
Age: Minimum Age 18 (essentially, all persons eligible to vote)
(See below for comparison to criteria for elective office)
Citizenship: 10 years - Minimum years as citizen at the time of selection for office
(See below for comparison to criteria for elective offices)
Education: High School Diploma from school accredited by the US Department
of Education or GED. (See below for comparison to profile of Congressional
representatives)
Residence: Must reside in the US for at least 2 of the last 5 years.
(Note: Approximately 9 million US citizens live outside the US.)
Legal: Must not be in prison or on parole or on sexual offender list.
Party: Must be non-partisan.
Either: not be a member of a political party or must renounce any
such membership upon selection. Must register as independent.
Must not: be employed by any lobbying organization, hold any elective
or politically appointed office, have donated more than $1,000 to any
political party in the last 4 years.
Language: Must be literate and able to speak, read and write English fluently.
(We have no agenda with this requirement - we just do not have resources for
multi-lingual delegates)
Medical: Must have medical capacity to serve. This is to be determined by a
panel of medical experts whose decision is final. The following would,
for example, be medically disqualifying: drug-dependency, schizophrenia,
other mentally incapacitating condition or condition requiring ongoing
treatment that would impair a delegate's ability to serve, such as in a
coma or terminal illness.
Other: At least three persons shall be selected from every state and every federally
administered district or territory with at least 500,000 residents.
No active duty military will be selected. All delegates must authorize
New Unity to use and to publicly disclose their name, photo and a brief
biography.
Verification: The following documents are required from each delegate in order to verify
their qualifications:
(1) birth certificate;
(2) high school diploma;
(3) proof of residence (such as utility bill);
(4) medical certification;
(5) written representation signed by candidate representing
that candidate fulfills the required qualifications and is not
disqualified from service.
Oath of Office: Every delegate is required to take an oath, and to sign an oath, similar to
the oath taken by every elected representative for federal office.
Conflicts: No delegate may have any conflicts that could prevent them from
objective opinion or otherwise impact their service. To mitigate the
potential for conflicts, delegates are prohibited from accepting any gifts
or from financially benefiting as a result of their service. Delegates shall
assign to New Unity the current and future rights to any intellectual
property that is based on their experience with New Unity.
Confidentiality: To promote unhindered debate among delegates, all delegate debate
and deliberation is not public and transcripts will not identify any
specific delegate. Delegates must agree to non-disclosure of the identity
of fellow delegates in any deliberation. Due to the importance of this
provision, any unauthorized disclosure will be cause for immediate
expulsion of a delegate.
COMPARISON TO OTHER OFFICE QUALIFICATIONS
President Senate House Assembly
Minimum Age............. 35 30 25 18
Citizen of USA............. 14+ years 9+ yrs 7+ yrs 10+ yrs
Residence in USA....... 14+ years Current Current 2+ of last 5 yrs
Notes:
Age Requirement. At least 55 countries have a minimum age for national office. For President and age 35 or 40 are predominant. For reference purposes, presently the average age for Senators is 61.8 (youngest is 39, oldest is 86) and for Representatives it is 57.8 (youngest is 29 oldest is 87).
Education Requirement. Service in a governmental body requires a level of intelligence and reasoning that is above average. We balance that fact against the desire to be as inclusive as possible. For example, if college degree were a threshold, it would exclude many capable people with important life experiences and thereby fail to represent a majority of Americans. Therefore, it was determined that a high school diploma or equivalent is an appropriate qualifying educational threshold. For reference, a 4-year college degree from an accredited institution is now held by 100% of Senators, the President, all Cabinet members and all Justices of the Supreme Court, and by 96% of House members. To put into perspective, for persons over 25, roughly 70% are not college graduates. Only about 30% of the general population has a 4-year college degree from an accredited college and 13% have no high school diploma or GED, according to Statistical Atlas of the US https://statisticalatlas.com/United-States/Educational-Attainment
Self Determination. No person is required to accept the appointment as delegate. A person who, for any reason, believes their life circumstances would impede their service can decline.
Disqualification
Any person who would be disqualified from serving in Congress would be disqualified as a delegate. See “Congressional Research Service – Qualifications for Members of Congress” by Jack Maskell, January 15, 2015. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41946.pdf