Recently, in class, we talked about the voting process, and how often when electing officials, under simple plurality rules, the candidate with the most votes win, even if it's not a majority vote of the district. This can often let minorities have a larger voice than disorganized majorities, who might vote for third party candidates, taking away from the majority candidate, creating an imbalanced democracy.
Enter Ranked Choice Ballots. This system, which New York recently overwhelmingly adopted, allows for a broader spectrum of public opinion and politicians to thrive, as well as relying on candidates appealing to each others' voter bases instead of simply focusing on a hardcore and loyal fanbase. Essentially, ranked-choice ballots let voters rank their favorite candidates from first to last. Then, if the candidate with the most votes doesn't win the majority vote, the people who voted for the last-place candidate have their second choice counted, and so on and so forth until a candidate is selected. This system encourages politicians to appeal to each others' voter bases because they want a second choice vote which could be vital to their win. This system of voting also systematically empowers minority and women leaders and allows for more satisfaction among the voting population about the elected official.
Overall, while there are critics of the system, in many ways, it is a more comprehensive and complete form of voting that allows voters to more satisfied with their elected officials and prevents a loud minority from overwhelming a disorganized majority.
While we'll still have to wait to see the benefit of the ranked voting system in New York, its future remains hopeful as a more balanced way to elect officials.
Bibliography:
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/new-voting-system-could-fix-american-democracy-ranked-choice-ballots-ncna1078491
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/5/20948376/new-york-election-results-ranked-choice-voting
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-just-embraced-a-revolutionary-ranked-choice-voting-system-2019-11
I think you make a lot of interesting points in this post. But this does not seem like a perfect system. Is there a possibility of candidates forming an alliance in order to receive a majority of the third and second place votes? Since the process is more complicated, it would almost certainly take longer for election results to be official. There are also many people in America who show up to the polls with the idea of voting for just one person, and it might come as a shock that they have to pick multiple candidates. The idea certainly is an interesting and could be improved upon in the future.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article! Adding on the Aidan's point, there is also the problem of how the electoral votes would be organized in this new system. Would electoral votes be split among the candidates, or would it be whoever was voted the highest rank got all the votes? This ranking system would also mess up the 2 party, 2 candidate system, as with 2 candidates, voting by rank wouldn't matter at all, while there are problems with this system, I still feel like it is a feasible idea.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an interesting idea. To have politicians appeal to both sides would be an interesting idea but because the current political climate being so polarized, I wonder if it would help or actually hurt the candidate. While we many see it's success in New York, I am unsure if it will work nationwide where the population is so diverse and different wherever you turn.
ReplyDeleteI think this idea is really interesting because of this new system. I also like the fact that you included that New York has adopted this method because that adds slightly more credibility to it. However, I think the political climate of the country has changed enough that having this method would be slightly difficult because the candidates that usually come in second place could actually win based on this new ballot system. I think it has a few flaws that need to be fixed, but otherwise, this system could possibly function well!
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a really interesting addition to the voting system. However, I do have to agree that this does seem like something difficult to enact with our polarized American public. https://qz.com/1676718/the-pros-and-cons-of-ranked-choice-voting/ According to this article, the complications with ranked voting would result in a lot of people's ballots being blank after candidates are eliminated. Although there is a benefit to making people rank, the complications would definitely outweigh pros.
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