Dear Editor:

Thank you for urging the State Legislature to give serious consideration to instant runoff voting [Editorial, "Banishing the Spoiler Concept," 175 N.J.L.J. 1150, March 22].
 
The leadership of the General Assembly had no desire to have a caucus member sponsor such legislation, so I introduced two bills regarding instant runoff voting only after I left the majority caucus in 2003. To them, I became a "spoiler" myself. "Don't let Florida happen in Bergen County ... Just like Ralph Nader in the 2000 Florida race," they said in mass mailings and phone blitzes to voters last fall. "A vote for Ahearn could cost the Democrats control of the New Jersey Legislature."
 
Imagine that, little old me, a Green Party freshman assembly member
having that much potential power.

Several months before, I had introduced the concept of instant runoff voting to the Legislature. To get the debate going I focused on local and county elections in my introduced versions [note the taxpayer savings on the costs of actual "runoff elections" that most often occur at the local level] and on getting an IRV-compliant voting machine infrastructure in place statewide. The measures predictably went no place, and IRV remains off the radar of legislative leaders thus far this session. Too bad.
 
I hope the leadership of the state's Democratic party that now controls Trenton reacts to your call to give instant runoff voting "serious consideration." IRV is a major plank of the Green Party Platform thanks to the early works on the subject by John Anderson, Ralph Nader and others. Until state and federal legislators do "get it" and the people of the United States get IRV, third parties will just have to keep on "spoiling for a fight" to drive home the point you make in your editorial.
 
I sincerely hope my old friends listen to your sage advice, and soon. While I wait to see if they do, I'll be campaigning for Ralph Nader for the first time. Why? Because as you stated: "Our primitive voting system is this year's biggest spoiler."