By John A. O'Brien
Published November 20th 2003 in The Colonial
Democrats sweep Whitemarsh election.
GOP Holds control of Colonial Board
These were the front page headlines from your issue of November 6-12, 2003. As a Democrat, I should be pleased with the former result and displeased with the latter (especially in view of the fact that my wife was one of the Democratic candidates.)
However, my real problem with the results last Tuesday, and indeed with the results of most elections, is the fact that the rules under which elections for such bodies as school boards and boards of supervisors are conducted usually lead to all of the winners being from the same political party.
These boards are supposed to represent ALL of the people of the community. Then why not elect them by a single transferable vote (a/k/a ranked choice) system, such as that used in Cambridge, Massachusetts and in the Republic of Ireland?
This system, which differs from the at-large plurality system used now in that it requires the voter to rank the candidates in order of preference, would make elections more interesting , giving anyone with a substantial amount of support in the community a chance to win, regardless of party. This would lead to higher voter turnout, more participation at the candidate level, and more representative governing bodies.
Sincerely,
John A. O'Brien
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.