I have received a number of questions from people who want to vote for me, but are concerned that as a Independent candidate I might not be strong enough to win. They don’t want me to be the spoiler over their second choice who might have a better chance to win.
This is a problem I tried to address in my latest ad titled “Can an independent really win?” The short answer is “Yes,” I think I can win this election, but I would probably have an even better chance under a different voting system.
The system that we are operating under is a simple plurality, the candidate with the largest number of votes will win, even if he obtains far short of a majority vote. In theory, if the votes were evenly divided someone could win with 25 per cent plus one vote. That result would leave almost 75 per cent of voters unhappy.
Some systems have attempted to address this problem by requiring a run-off election between the two highest candidates if no one gets a majority. This, of course, is time consuming and expensive. There is another voting system, however, that can get the same results instantly. It is called IRV voting, which stands for Instant Runoff Voting.
Under IRV, voters are asked to rank the candidates in order of preference. Then after the votes are counted, the person with the least number of first place votes is eliminated. The votes are then counted again, with the #2 choice being counted as #1 for all the people whose candidate was eliminated.
If this new vote produces a majority for any candidate the counting is over. If it doesn’t, the lowest finishing candidate is eliminated again and the process is repeated until a majority winner is finally found.
I would like my chances under this system, but obviously it is not possible to adopt it at this late stage. The system is in use in most of Australia and in Ireland as well as in a number of American cities. San Francisco, Berkeley and Burlington, VT are three that are already using it. Will Geneseo be next?
Without a system like IRV, and in the absence of any polls, voters are required to do their own private poll to try to figure which way the wind is blowing. Perhaps that is why this election has become such a subject of local conversation.
Is it too idealistic to just say “vote for the person you want to win, not the person you think will win?” You gotta believe!
