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| OPINION: The Case for Ranked Voting |
| Eric Fried | 7/29/10 |
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Sponsors of an upcoming local ballot measure to change the way Fort Collins city elections are conducted say Tom Tancredo’s third party candidacy for Governor shows exactly why Colorado needs ranked choice voting.
Political observers say Tancredo’s American Constitution Party campaign will probably siphon off conservative votes that would otherwise go to the Republican candidate in November, allowing Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to win the race. A coalition of Tea Party and 9-12 groups have sent Tancredo an open letter urging him not to run for that very reason.
 There is a way out of this trap, a better electoral system called ranked choice, or instant runoff voting. It’s literally as easy as marking 1, 2, 3, and you don’t have to settle for the "lesser of two evils."
In ranked voting, instead of voting for just one candidate, you rank them in preference order. In the first round, your first choice is tallied as your vote. If a candidate receives at least 50% plus one vote, they win. If no one achieves a majority, a “runoff” occurs instantly. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the votes for that candidate are reallocated to the candidate who was ranked next on the ballot by that voter. The process repeats until one candidate gets a majority.
In the 2010 Governor’s race, with ranked voting, conservatives could vote for Tom Tancredo first if that’s who they prefer, and the Republican candidate second. If Tom finishes behind McInnis or Maes, those votes would count for the Republican instead, sending a powerful message while not “spoiling” the election by inadvertently helping the other side. If a majority of the electorate votes for a conservative, the leading conservative wins – as he or she should.
Vote splitting among ideological allies can hurt Democrats as well. A May Congressional special election in Hawaii where two Democrats split almost 60% of the vote, leading to a Republican victory with less than 40% support. Some Democrats still blame Ralph Nader’s 2000 campaign for taking enough votes away from Al Gore to hand the Presidency to George W. Bush.
Instant runoff voting produces more representative outcomes, allows more choices and more voices, and encourages voter engagement. That’s why it’s gaining supporters across the US.
Those of us who are sponsoring the Ranked Voting effort in Fort Collins think Coloradans would like it too, if they were given the choice. |
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