The Right Wing’s New Election Boogeyman

Discussion in 'Current Events' started by Egoboy, Sep 15, 2020.

  1. Egoboy

    Egoboy Well-Known Member Donor

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    SNIP
    This fall, Maine is set to be the only state in the country to choose its president and members of Congress using a process called ranked choice voting. Under that system, voters are instructed to list their candidate preferences in order, effectively offering up a first choice, a second choice, and so on. Those backup picks only come into play if no candidate cracks a majority of votes on the first ballot:

    Maine Republicans loathe this system and have fought it tooth-and-nail since voters in the state approved its use for federal elections in 2016.

    In 2018, former GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin had a 2,000-vote lead over Democrat Jared Golden but failed to get a majority on the initial ballot. Under the rules of ranked choice voting, the third-party candidates dropped and Golden cleaned up as the second choice among their supporters, ultimately giving him a majority.
    ENDSNIP

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-wings-new-election-boogeyman

    I'm actually a little torn on this one. I can see the arguments for (I think it's important to have somebody elected with > 50% support) and against (somebody's 2nd choice doesn't necessarily mean full support).

    However, at the end of the day, I think in these days of multiple parties out there getting support (plus that idiot Kanye), it's important to determine who is the candidate who garners the most amount of relative support. I'd vote to allow this system in my state if proposed.

    The gist of this article is that there is almost zero chance Susan Collins can win now, with the primary 3rd party candidate actually asking her supporters to list Gideon 2nd.

    I highly doubt any of the RW leaning members on here will support this concept. Does anybody??
     
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  2. Josh77

    Josh77 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I'm right wing leaning independent, and I live in Maine. I like the system. I think it can help break the 2 party system. I can't stand republicans or democrats. 2 sides of the same coin.
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2020
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  3. StillBlue

    StillBlue Well-Known Member

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    The beauty of the system is you can vote for your preferred candidate and not take your vote away from your lesser of two evils. It's the quickest road to a third party.
     
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  4. Libby

    Libby Well-Known Member

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    What? Oh sorry.... I'm still laughing at the idea of someone calling Kanye an idiot, while they support Biden :roflol:
     
  5. RP12

    RP12 Well-Known Member

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    Actually voting for a third party is the quickest way to a third party..... If a third party had enough support then we would not have a two party system.....
     
  6. MissingMayor

    MissingMayor Well-Known Member

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    This. I love the ranked voting system.
     
  7. Spim

    Spim Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Not a fan of a candidate suggesting that they ranked somebody specifically second.

    Would it be kosher if Trump said if you don't want to vote for me then write in who you want but don't do Biden?
     
  8. StillBlue

    StillBlue Well-Known Member

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    In 1980 John B Anderson got 6.6% despite all the obstacles. One of the major ones was a vote for Anderson was a vote for Reagan. Had people felt safe voting for him as their first choice he very well may have won over carter and with only a small bit of Reagan's vote could have won the whole enchilada. People really didn't like either Reagan nor carter but feared helping one or the other get in by voting Anderson.
     
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  9. RP12

    RP12 Well-Known Member

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    If more people voted for Ross Perot instead of the "lesser evil" we might have a different system now..

    18.9% was the best he could do because of "the lesser evil" nonsense.
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2020
  10. Andrew Jackson

    Andrew Jackson Well-Known Member

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    Collins would have lost (regardless).

    But, Maine is free to do what they want.
     
  11. Phyxius

    Phyxius Well-Known Member

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    It would still be fair to call Kanye an idiot while supporting a dead houseplant.
     
  12. StillBlue

    StillBlue Well-Known Member

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    He had the advantage of not having to fight tooth and nail to even get on the ballots. Anderson opened that door.
     
  13. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It would also help if some of the existing third parties earned that support. I'm convinced the Libertarian Party would have more support if it had competent people running the party. The ideas are there, but the leadership is not.
     
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  14. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Joe Biden is not a dead houseplant. He is a cruciferous vegetable. :wink:
     
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  15. Egoboy

    Egoboy Well-Known Member Donor

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  16. Burzmali

    Burzmali Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    This. I would think anyone who doesn't like the two party system, regardless of their leanings, would love ranked choice voting. I'm all for it and wish we had it here in Colorado.
     
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  17. Rockin'Robin

    Rockin'Robin Banned

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    My state of NY as well :cheerleader:
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2020
  18. Egoboy

    Egoboy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Good for NYC, but it needs to be at the federal level to gain any notice...

    But you gotta start somewhere...

    I'm still waiting for the state that will implement ranked voting WITH using vote pct to assign their electoral college votes....
     
  19. RodB

    RodB Well-Known Member Donor

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    It is interesting but not credible. From the basic rule that the more a process is convoluted the less credible and valid it becomes. A little like determining the winner of a football game not just on score, but on a system of weighed assessment of score, yards rushing, yards passing, sacks, number of penalties, yards penalized, and pass interceptions.
     
  20. bx4

    bx4 Well-Known Member

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    Playoffs are more convoluted than the top two teams playing against each other. Or simply awarding a championship trophy to the team that finishes first in the regular season. But that doesn’t make the playoff winner invalid.
     
  21. TomFitz

    TomFitz Well-Known Member

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    Not really.

    In practice, the third party will always be the one the others have to make deals with in order to assemble a coalition.

    In a parliamentary system, where party leaders are the ministers in the government, this works.

    I have no idea how it would work here. But the existing parties have a lot of infrastructure and institutional inertia.
     
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  22. TomFitz

    TomFitz Well-Known Member

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    That’s good analogy. Of course, there’s a lot more to it. But you do capture one of the main issues.
     
  23. bx4

    bx4 Well-Known Member

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    That’s exactly what ranked voting is - a playoff system.
    There are various ways to do it. You could have several rounds, with the lowest vote getter being tossed out at each round and then the ballots for him / her being distributed according to the voters second choices Or just jump straight to the top two and distribute all other candidates votes as indicated.

    Personally I’m in favor of the multiple round approach, but I also recognized that no particular approach is inherently more or less valid than any other approach.
     
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  24. struth

    struth Well-Known Member

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    Horrible system...it could work if you had another election after people were knocked out
     
  25. bx4

    bx4 Well-Known Member

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    That’s what the French do for presidential elections but it’s only the top two.
    But what is the difference between having a second (and third and fourth) election compared with ranking your choices immediately?

    It strikes me that multiple elections are just inefficient.
     
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