We have all seen extreme partisanship in Washington, D.C. We’ve begun seeing it trickle down to the state and local levels.
I think most South Carolinians agree with me that the rhetoric is more harmful than helpful. Nothing is black and white. Shades of gray permeate every corner of our lives. Every day we are further divided by the echo chambers created by social media and biased news sources that make us more focused on national politics rather than what is happening in our own backyards.
Our political system pushes us to the extremes with campaign finance laws reminiscent of the Wild West, and a first-past-the-post voting system that incentivizes the poor behavior that perpetuates polarization. First-past-the-post, or plurality voting, means that whoever gets the most votes wins. While that seems democratic on the surface, there are issues. For example, if there is a crowded field like North Charleston’s upcoming mayoral election, candidates can win with far less than 50% of the vote. That incentivizes candidates to tear down their opponents and radicalize their base.
Fixing the system
While many of these issues are difficult to tackle, there is already a bill in the Statehouse that could fix our broken first past the post election system: H. 4022, which will allow municipalities to use instant runoff voting.
Instant runoff voting (also known as ranked choice voting) allows voters to rank their choices. This simple change can save municipalities the cost of a traditional runoff while still ensuring majority support. Additionally, IRV provides another valuable benefit to our voting system – changing the way that candidates campaign. Obviously, a candidate wants to be a voter’s first choice, but instant runoff voting (IRV) allows a voter to fully articulate how they feel about all their options by ranking them. With IRV, candidates will be incentivized to talk to voters who already support their opponents because the rankings are important in a crowded field and can lead to a win.
Advantages of instant runoffs
In the past, I’ve canvassed for candidates. If I saw someone else’s sign in the yard, I skipped them. They have clearly made their decision and I am unlikely to sway them with a five-minute pitch. On the other hand if IRV were in place, I could knock on their door and tell them about how our two candidates have some stances in common and that we would appreciate their second place vote. IRV encourages real conversations and bridge building. It encourages candidates to reach beyond their base. Strong candidates win with IRV instead of letting weak candidates squeak by with a plurality or through a poorly attended runoff.
IRV also discourages mudslinging. Since candidates want you to rank them, they need to appeal to their opponent’s voters as well. In races where IRV is already in use, we’ve seen candidates focus on their positive vision for their constituency rather than demeaning their opponents. Voters won’t rank a candidate who is attacking their top pick.
How it works
Also, IRV is simple to use. We’ve been ranking things for as long as we can remember and this is no different. Voters simply rank the candidates that they choose in the order that they prefer them. When votes are being counted, the candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated and anyone who picked them first has their second choice activated. This process is repeated until a candidate achieves a majority of votes.
To try this out, readers can visit www.BetterBallotSC.org/polls. We have unscientific IRV Presidential Primary Polls to see how the system works first hand with current candidates.
Nicole Sanchez is the president of Better Ballot SC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education of South Carolinians about instant runoff voting. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@charlestoncitypaper.com.
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