Ranked candidate voting

[Seattle Husker]

I saw that Maine is voting on a referendum to make "Ranked Candidate voting" the standard statewide.

In a nutshell, everyone ranks the candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote at the first pass, the bottom vote getter is dropped and their votes distributed to the #2 on their voters ballots. This process occurs until a candidate receives 50%. The goal is to get as broad a voter concensus for the ultimate winner as possible. Thoughts?

Can you imagine how that might impact this presidential election? Think Trump or HRC are #2 on Johnson/Stien's voters ballots? Stien likely goes to HRC. Johnson is less clear.


Here is what prompted this from fivethirtyeight.com:

GALEN DRUKE 12:33 PM
Maine’s Meta-Vote
Mainers are voting on how to vote in future elections today. If the state’s Question 5 ballot initiative passes, Maine could become the only state in the country to implement ranked-choice voting (RCV) for statewide elections.

Under the system, instead of voting for a single candidate, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate exceeds 50 percent of first-choice votes, the last place candidate is eliminated and his or her votes are distributed according to second choices. The process is repeated until one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

Sound complicated? There’s some evidence that voters think so. RCV is already used in various municipal elections around the country, including in San Francisco. One analysis of San Francisco mayoral elections concluded that there is a relationship between RCV and decreased turnout among less-experienced voters — voters who are younger or less educated. That could be the result of more confusion and error caused by a more complicated ballot.

But many Mainers see good reason for implementing the system, in large part because a Maine governor has not received a majority of the vote since 1998. Proponents of the initiative say the system would help elect more broadly popular politicians, decrease the effect of spoilers, and maybe even decrease negative campaigning.

The latest polling on the initiative shows a plurality of voters in favor, but with about 20 percent still undecided. If the measure does pass, there are still some wrinkles Maine would have to iron out. For one, Maine’s constitution explicitly says that governors can be elected by a plurality, and ranked-choice may violate that. That means a constitutional amendment would likely be necessary, a process that would send the issue back to the ballot in a future election.

 

[Statalyzer]

That's a great way to do it, as is multiple choice / acceptability voting. But neither of those benefits the bosses of the main 2 parties.

 

[Seattle Husker]

Maine approved the Ranked Voting mechanism. Legal battles by the major parties are expected as it limits their ability to control the government.