By David Berger
Published October 28th 2002 in Newsday
On Oct. 20, we saw the full complement of gubernatorial candidates debate in Syracuse. ["The Minute Melee: Pataki, Opponents Square Off," News, Oct. 21].
Whatever his true motive, Gov. George Pataki rightly stood up for the right of the third-party candidates to participate in the debates. But what is the role of these third-party candidates? More to the point, will it happen again? Will a third party candidate play the spoiler? Will Tom Golisano be the Ralph Nader of New York? Or will voters shy away from voting for the candidate they truly support because they feel like they will be wasting their vote?
It doesn't have to be this way. A method of election known as instant runoff voting solves this problem. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate does not receive a majority of votes, the candidate who received the fewest first choice ballots is eliminated.
Voters who chose the now-eliminated candidate as their top choice then have their vote counted for their second choice candidate - just as if they were voting in a traditional two-round runoff election - while the votes of all other voters continue supporting their top choice candidate. The process continues until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.
Instant runoff voting eliminates the problem of spoiler candidates and allows voters to express their true preference at the polls. Third parties have an important role in the democratic system. Unfortunately, our current procedures all too often squelch their voices and suppress their vote.
David Berger
Valley Stream
Whatever his true motive, Gov. George Pataki rightly stood up for the right of the third-party candidates to participate in the debates. But what is the role of these third-party candidates? More to the point, will it happen again? Will a third party candidate play the spoiler? Will Tom Golisano be the Ralph Nader of New York? Or will voters shy away from voting for the candidate they truly support because they feel like they will be wasting their vote?
It doesn't have to be this way. A method of election known as instant runoff voting solves this problem. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate does not receive a majority of votes, the candidate who received the fewest first choice ballots is eliminated.
Voters who chose the now-eliminated candidate as their top choice then have their vote counted for their second choice candidate - just as if they were voting in a traditional two-round runoff election - while the votes of all other voters continue supporting their top choice candidate. The process continues until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.
Instant runoff voting eliminates the problem of spoiler candidates and allows voters to express their true preference at the polls. Third parties have an important role in the democratic system. Unfortunately, our current procedures all too often squelch their voices and suppress their vote.
David Berger
Valley Stream
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.