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Time
Making
Second-Place Votes Count
By Melissa August, Harriet
Barovick, Victoria Rainert, Heather Won Tesoriero, Rebecca Winters
April 15, 2002
Ralph Nader still hasn't lived down the charge that
his third-party candidacy in 2000 swung the election to George W.
Bush. It's the perennial problem for third-party candidates: too
often they serve merely as spoilers, siphoning votes from candidates
their supporters might otherwise back. But a little-noticed
proposition approved last month by San Francisco voters offers a
glimpse of how democracy may look in the future. Instead of casting
their ballots for just one candidate, San Franciscans will now rank
the candidates in most local races according to their first, second
and third choices. If no candidate gets more than 50%, the
last-place finisher is dropped, and his or her second-place votes
are allocated among the remaining candidates. The process is
repeated until one candidate eventually reaches a majority.
The system, known as instant-runoff voting, has also
been endorsed by most communities in Vermont. In Utah, where 40
candidates are vying for three congressional seats, the Republican
Party decided to use instant runoffs at its May 11 convention to
nominate candidates for the state's G.O.P. primary. And in heavily
Republican Alaska--where Democratic Governor Tony Knowles was
elected in 1994 by a mere 536 votes in a four-way race--voters will
decide in August whether to adopt the instant-runoff system for
nearly all its state offices.
Third parties support instant-runoff voting because
they believe it will dispel the notion that a vote for their
candidates is wasted. "It would make voters feel better about
themselves, make the election more meaningful, draw more voters to
the polls," says John Anderson, the 1980 third-party candidate for
President. Other reformers argue that it is a truer expression of
voter will than runoff elections, which are costly and typically
attract a much smaller voter turnout. San Francisco approved the
change after last year's runoff for city attorney drew an abysmally
low 16.6% of registered voters. And as political races grow more
crowded and fringe candidates proliferate, instant runoffs can
encourage candidates to appeal to as wide a constituency as
possible.
The system is being tried only in local elections for
now. But if it works, it could spread to national contests--even
someday, perhaps, to the presidential election. "I'm in favor of
trying it," says Nader. "But nobody knows whether it will really
work."
How We Vote Now
ONE CHOICE
No matter how large the field, you vote for your
favorite
INSTANT-RUNOFF PROPOSAL
1. RANK EACH CANDIDATE Voters list their preferences
from first to last
2. TRANSFER VOTES If no one tops 50%, the two highest
vote getters divide the second-place votes
3. MAJORITY WINS The process is repeated until one
candidate tops 50%; no runoff is necessary
By Karen Tumulty |
