Ralph Nader's revelation that he may run for president again next year
makes it all the more imperative that the U.S. election system be
overhauled so that independent and third-party candidates can seek
office to their hearts' content without being stigmatized as "spoilers."
Mr. Nader, of course, is widely blamed by Democrats for taking enough votes from Al Gore in key states in 2000 to tip the states to George Bush and ensure the Republican's election. At the time, Mr. Nader asserted that it made no difference which major-party candidate was elected, since their views and policies were virtually the same. Now, he's going around denouncing President Bush for his positions on the environment, corporate malfeasance and "the growing quagmire in Iraq," and calling the president not only "beatable but impeachable" for "deceptions and prevarications." Mr. Nader also says he's pondering whether to run again in 2004, which makes it quite clear that he has lost any ironic sense he might once have possessed and is in grave danger of losing his grip on reality altogether.
Be that as it may, any American - whether it be Ralph Nader, Ralph Kramden or Ralph Doe - has a perfect right to run for any office for which he or she is eligible. But this can be done without distorting the election and forcing agonizing decisions and guilty consciences on the voters. The solution is "instant runoff," a system that asks the voter to list candidates by order of preference and, when the ballots are counted, redistributes the last-place candidate's second-place votes among the other candidates and continues the process until one person has a majority. It's in use in San Francisco, London, Ireland, Australia and a few other jurisdictions. It should be in use everywhere in America.
Mr. Nader, of course, is widely blamed by Democrats for taking enough votes from Al Gore in key states in 2000 to tip the states to George Bush and ensure the Republican's election. At the time, Mr. Nader asserted that it made no difference which major-party candidate was elected, since their views and policies were virtually the same. Now, he's going around denouncing President Bush for his positions on the environment, corporate malfeasance and "the growing quagmire in Iraq," and calling the president not only "beatable but impeachable" for "deceptions and prevarications." Mr. Nader also says he's pondering whether to run again in 2004, which makes it quite clear that he has lost any ironic sense he might once have possessed and is in grave danger of losing his grip on reality altogether.
Be that as it may, any American - whether it be Ralph Nader, Ralph Kramden or Ralph Doe - has a perfect right to run for any office for which he or she is eligible. But this can be done without distorting the election and forcing agonizing decisions and guilty consciences on the voters. The solution is "instant runoff," a system that asks the voter to list candidates by order of preference and, when the ballots are counted, redistributes the last-place candidate's second-place votes among the other candidates and continues the process until one person has a majority. It's in use in San Francisco, London, Ireland, Australia and a few other jurisdictions. It should be in use everywhere in America.
