These are three things to think about — later.
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Hi Friend,
It’s been an unspeakably tragic few weeks in America. The shooting deaths of
19 children and two adults this week in Texas have compounded national
heartache from the shooting deaths of 10 shoppers in Buffalo. The tragedy is
inescapable.
What does this mean for us as a society and as a country? How do we measure
the functioning of a democracy? As we face those very existential and critical
questions, our hearts are with the families and community in Uvalde and Buffalo.
These are three things to think about — later.
Our primary system is destroying democracy
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Our favorite refrain found its way into the opinion section of The Washington
Post this week, as Ed Foley looks at how the Primary Problem is driving
division and dysfunction in midterm races across the country.
Duverger’s law is a political science concept that describes how our system
forces people into two camps, needing to beat just the first past the post
system in order to win. It also happens to be the system that allows the
two-party political system to hold our government hostage, empowering a few
voters to sway the outcomes of elections in an outsized way. In other words,
it’s the #PrimaryProblem.
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Why ranked choice voting (plus top four) matters
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In California, voters did away with partisan primaries in 2010 and have since
opted to use a top-two primary election system to determine the winner for
state offices. The solution means that as a whole, rather than being held
accountable to just their party base, elected officials are responsible to the
entire electorate, and all voters can participate in consequential elections.
Some evidence suggests it hasproduced less extreme lawmakers
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, too.
However, as this article points out, elected officials, who are single-minded
seekers of reelection, will seek victory however possible, even if it means
throwing your support behind someone of the opposite party who will guarantee
an easier victory for yourself. It’s the type of politics that makes people
hate politics, yet it’s the reality of living in California. It’s why reforms —
like the one adopted by Alaska, which brings the top four finishers into the
general election and uses ranked choice voting to determine the winner — are so
important; they ensure that the voter, without foul play by the opposing party,
can be heard and reflected in our political system.
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Ranked choice voting comes to Vermont
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Finally, take a look at Vermont, where Burlington just became the latest state
to adopt ranked choice voting for municipal elections. It’s incremental
progress, but it’s often forgotten that before the Progressive Era, incremental
progress was how women gained the right to vote, Americans got the ability to
elect senators directly, and how party primaries came into existence.
By expanding ranked choice voting to the city of Burlington, the city of
Vermont has given voters more choice, voice, and power in their elections, and
ensured that every voter will have a say in the election, regardless of their
political affiliation.
Read here
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how Burlington became the latest city with ranked choice voting.
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Best,
Brett
__
Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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