By Zack Levine
Published April 10th 2008 in The Daily Tar Heel
Politics took the spotlight Wednesday night in Murphey Hall as students and representatives from FairVote NC discussed ways to improve the election system on both a state and national scale.
The two topics that were debated included a plan for a national popular vote system and FairVote NC's campaign for instant runoff voting.
"It is important because a lot of people are unsatisfied with the Electoral College," said Ron Bilbao, committee chairman. "It's not right that you can get elected without winning the majority of the vote."
Torrey Dixon, executive director of FairVote NC, spoke to the audience about the plan for a national popular vote bill and its advantages over the Electoral College system.
Dixon said presidential candidates have no reason to campaign in states that are predetermined as "red" or "blue" because they know they will either automatically win or lose those electoral votes.
"It discourages people who live in these states to vote when they know their state always votes a certain way," Dixon said.
Instant runoff voting is a method of voting in which people will choose not only their first choice for the position but also their second and third choices, said Elena Everett, director of FairVote NC's campaign for instant runoff voting.
She explained that this option for voting eliminates the possibility of a runoff between candidates. She added that the ballot is simple to use.
"It's like listing your favorite ice cream flavors," Everett said. "Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. People make those kinds of choices every day."
FairVote is a 15-year-old national organization dedicated to restructuring the democratic system to better reflect the voice of the people. The N.C. branch of the organization was added a year ago.
The officials from FairVote NC were brought to speak as a part of an ongoing election awareness event called Campaign Series '08 sponsored by Table Talk, a Campus Y committee.
Table Talk is in its eighth week of arranging speakers that members hope will further educate students about various aspects of the upcoming election, Bilbao said.
Table Talk members believe issues such as these voting systems should be important to students, and they expect them to become prevalent in future elections.
"We want to make sure people do care," Bilbao said. "They need to know their voting system is broken, there are other efficient ways to vote and that there are new options on the horizon."
The two topics that were debated included a plan for a national popular vote system and FairVote NC's campaign for instant runoff voting.
"It is important because a lot of people are unsatisfied with the Electoral College," said Ron Bilbao, committee chairman. "It's not right that you can get elected without winning the majority of the vote."
Torrey Dixon, executive director of FairVote NC, spoke to the audience about the plan for a national popular vote bill and its advantages over the Electoral College system.
Dixon said presidential candidates have no reason to campaign in states that are predetermined as "red" or "blue" because they know they will either automatically win or lose those electoral votes.
"It discourages people who live in these states to vote when they know their state always votes a certain way," Dixon said.
Instant runoff voting is a method of voting in which people will choose not only their first choice for the position but also their second and third choices, said Elena Everett, director of FairVote NC's campaign for instant runoff voting.
She explained that this option for voting eliminates the possibility of a runoff between candidates. She added that the ballot is simple to use.
"It's like listing your favorite ice cream flavors," Everett said. "Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. People make those kinds of choices every day."
FairVote is a 15-year-old national organization dedicated to restructuring the democratic system to better reflect the voice of the people. The N.C. branch of the organization was added a year ago.
The officials from FairVote NC were brought to speak as a part of an ongoing election awareness event called Campaign Series '08 sponsored by Table Talk, a Campus Y committee.
Table Talk is in its eighth week of arranging speakers that members hope will further educate students about various aspects of the upcoming election, Bilbao said.
Table Talk members believe issues such as these voting systems should be important to students, and they expect them to become prevalent in future elections.
"We want to make sure people do care," Bilbao said. "They need to know their voting system is broken, there are other efficient ways to vote and that there are new options on the horizon."
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.