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As we wade through the deluge of platforms and policies that are being thrust upon us, we are concerning ourselves with which direction we should cast our vote, that one tiny ort of a voice that is ours to apply to the future decisions and major issues that confront our nation.  As is customary in this country, the candidates with the most votes will win their races (I won't get into the whole electoral college process here).

If the candidate with the majority of the votes wins, it is almost an assumption that he/she is supported by the majority of the population.  This is not so, especially if there are more than two persons vying for one office.  In our country, it is quite possible for a candidate to win with the support of only 30% of the constituency, or 20% or any percentage as long as it is more than any of the other candidates receive.

Many other countries require that a candidate must have at least 50% of the vote in order to serve.  This makes it necessary for him to be supported by over half of the people that he will be representing and it is achieved by eliminating the candidates with the smallest amount of support and holding runoff elections until any one of the remaining candidates surpasses the 50% mark.

Do you think that the US should adopt this Alternate Voting system?

Tags: Political-system, elections, voting

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I agree Robbie, public financing and a limit on the time devoted to a campaign are the best reforms we could make.

When you say, "no better...than drawing the wining ticket out of a paper bag." are you implying that the endorsement of a politician by a losing candidate gives his voters a 'meh' attitude and while they may go with the flow of their candidate's recommendation, it doesn't really count as support?

Slim, I usually vote the Green or Socialist Party line...just on principle. Choosing the lesser of two evils ( Democratic or Republican ) still leaves you with evil.

I saw Nader at SUNY New Paltz college a few years ago - he had some great ideas ( $20 minimum wage, decriminalization of marijuana, up to 4 years of college free ) but how often are third party candidates covered by the mainstream media.

An IRV ( Instant RunOff Voting ) ballot would list all the candidates and allow you to numerically rank them from your favorite to least favorite. A winner would need a clear majority of 1st place votes - if no one obtained a majority then the candidate with the least 1st place votes is removed from the ballot and another election is held...this is repeated until one candidate has a majority.

 

Considering how much the average voter knows about the candidates, without election finance reform it would still come down to who had the most money to generate name recognition.

CWO3...,

Name recognition in this day and age means being told who 'not' to vote for.  People often don't recall the name of the candidate being endorsed, but do remember the negative qualities spewed about the opponent.  Would reducing the amount of money involved help this at all?

I remember a time when product advertising was forbidden from using the names of its competitors (hence, Brand X).  Could a regulation be instituted that might apply this to campaigning?  Would it help with name recognition?

Slim, Name recognition is still the target. Being told who to not vote for will not work if we don't have a name identifying who to vote for.

funes...,

It sounds like you are more likely to consider your vote 'wasted' if you compromise to go with someone who might have a chance of winning, than if you stand by your ideals.  It seems to me that if more people had that attitude the subsequent parties might have a shot.

funes(cont.),

Is it lack of media attention or lack of campaign funding that is the problem?

It is all the same thing. If you don't have campaign funding, you don't have media attention.

Unless you murder or rape someone. I doubt holding up a bank to get campaign funding would help your campaign altho it would possibly get you name recognition.

You may be right, but I got the impression that funes... was talking about coverage rather than campaign ads.  It's interesting that you point out that vitriol against the competition without an identifying source won't work.  This year in a local election I got postcards and mailings that did nothing but lambast certain candidates without identifying the source of the funding or the organization that did the mailings.  I think in this case, you're right, people were confused about who the 'good guys' were supposed to be.

I am a failure as a father, my oldest son was elected to city council three months before he graduated from college.

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