Proponents say this system gives citizens more choices and reduces the chances a “radical” will be elected because not only can everyone vote in the primary, but no one can win by capturing just a plurality (e.g., 37 percent) of the vote. Opponents assert that this merely favors the most politician-like of politicians, people who don’t take firm stands on hot-button issues and remain “inoffensive” enough to be everyone’s second choice. Yet the most significant problem with this system is different: It’s completely incompatible with our larger system.
To grasp why, realize that contrary to popular belief, you’re voting in the general election for the party and not the person. How?
Consider: Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is thought to be perhaps the most conservative high-profile Democrat in America. Yet as of June 2, 2021, he’d voted with Joe Biden 100 percent of the time.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is despised by the GOP base for being a quintessential liberal anti-Trumper. Yet she voted with President Trump 93 percent of the time. In other words, she voted very much as Marjorie Taylor Greene does today.
These individuals aren’t exceptions, either, but the norm. No matter what politicians say while campaigning, they’ll vote with their party the vast majority of the time. The point?
In practice, we have a binary system in which one of two major parties will wield power.
So essentially, the question put to voters at general election time is always this: Do you want to provide another vote to advance the Democrat agenda or another vote to advance the Republican agenda? Most Americans aren’t aware of this, of course, and thus often focus on personalities (e.g., the Walker vs. Warnock race in Georgia), on “voting for the person.”
(Note: We vote for the person and not the party in traditional primaries, because then we’re voting within a party.)
Our traditional closed primary system, yielding two major-party general-election candidates, mitigates this problem. After all, it presents the voter in our de facto binary system with something entirely congruent: a binary choice.
Palin should have dropped out. Her selfishness is to blame for this. Also, AK needs to get rid of this ASAP.
Ranked choice voting is NOT voting. You vote for one person and your first choice, period.
If the GOP voting for the Ranking Crap Voting they deserve what they got
Rank voting is how that useless communist witch in New Zealand stays in power
What happens if you only vote for 1? It sounds like sorority rush
If the gop was smart
There would have been one Republican on the ticket.
But it’s the gop we are talking about.
most have probably forgotten that Palin was once .. the most popular governor in America.
*sigh*
Nevada trying to shove it down our throats.
Of course RCV is dangerous. It is yet another effort of the Democrat Party to totally destroy our electoral process and system.
Only the voters for the least popular candidate get a second vote.
-PJ
“I’ll take “It’s voter fraud” for $200.00 Alex.”
plus 4000+ Begich Repubs voted for Peltola in the next Ranked Choice round.
Update...
Note to Alaska: You’d better get rid of early voting, mail in voting, no-excuses absentee, and RCV-enabled voting machines while you’re at it...
Or this is a a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.