Are people with moderate views an endangered species? Does our entrenched two-party system block new competitors, restrict voter choice and ensure their near-total domination of our elected leaders? Does it even matter, does anyone really care?
People are disgusted and concerned about the dysfunction we see our our election process. Can we change the system to make it work? Perhaps our political problems are inevitable so let’s accept it and move on. Can open primaries and ranked choice voting make a difference?
What might open primaries achieve? Will we be overwhelmed having to learn about several candidates running for an office, too time consuming or confusing? If anyone can seek election our open primaries will be inundated with so many candidates. Perhaps more choices but a flood of candidates not likely.
Ranked choice voting does what? We could have 4 or 5 choices, vote for any, placing my favorite first. Whoever received the smallest number of votes is eliminated. What about my other votes. These votes are added into the vote count of the remaining candidates. As soon as one candidate reaches 50% plus one, it’s over. We have a winner not one with 45% or 37%, an actual majority winner. A number of other states use this method of electing people. The actual cost is minimal. Check for yourself the costs in the State of Maine and others.
Now we know open primaries allow for more candidates. The voting process under ranked choice voting allows for electing candidates who actually receive a majority of voter support. The system is a bit different with more candidates, but does it really matter.
Across the USA, voters have approved it in each of the last 27 times the issue has been put to them. Proponents say ranked choice reduces polarization by forcing candidates to seek broad support. Critics call the system confusing and even undemocratic, since candidates who initially get the most first-place votes but not 50%+1 don’t always win.
The Republican National Committee urged Congress and the states a year ago to oppose ranked-choice voting “in every locality and level of government.” Some conservatives opposed unlimited ranked-choice ballots, but some favor a modified system that asks voters to rank five candidates. Virginia Republicans used ranked choice voting in 2021 to select Glenn Youngkin, who defeated six opponents and went on to become the first Republican governor in the state in more than a decade. Governor Newsom vetoed it in California.
Katherine Gehl, a Chicago businesswoman, in her book, The Politics Industry, sees the political parties as two corporations albeit unresponsive to their customers, the voters. Each favor the current process where their chosen and funded candidates are most likely to win. Any primary generally has fewer voters than a general election. Those who vote in the primary tend to be stronger Republicans or Democrats in their views. The candidate elected in the primary is the likely winner in the general election. If a primary election has a 10% turnout, the primary winner likely, about 80% of the time is the winner in the general election when 60 of 70 per cent actually vote. Does it matter that 10% of the voters actually chose the ultimate winner during the primary. Add to that a large percent of the voters who can’t be bothered to vote. In addition, those who are elected don’t need to be concerned about what voters want. They need to satisfy the 10% who got them elected in the first place.
Let’s ignore the biases of political parties. All parties lose some power. That is a greater problem for the Republican Party in a place like Idaho with a more extreme Republican supermajority. Who they lose power to is not the Democrats but rather to traditional Republicans, often labeled RINO’s, Republicans in Name Only. The voters, the primary beneficiary, gain some advantage with more options in candidate selection. If that doesn’t equate with what you have heard, think about it. More choices, not all hard core right or left, possibly middle of the road. That’s where most Americans are, it’s where I am most of the time. I am so fed up with the distortions and outright lies about this proposition. We need to elect better people who believe in our American values. Now I know what I must do and so should you given the choice.
Phil's Personal Perspectives 