It looks as though we need to be sure we are on the same side when it comes to understanding ranked ballots in voting. Some people think they are a good idea. I would like to question that.
Start with how ranked ballots are designed: you have a sheet of paper listing the names of all the candidates and there is a box beside each name in which the voter can mark their preference. If there are ten names, there should be ten boxes in which the voter can number their selections from one to ten.
In the first counting run, the number of choices numbered one are counted. If any candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the votes, that candidate wins, the same as in first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting.
If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the votes, you are now going to eliminate the candidate with the least number of votes. And you are going to add the second choice of that losing candidate’s votes to the remaining candidates. This process of adding the losers’ votes to those left standing continues until somebody gets 50 per cent or you simply run out of votes.
But think about that voter, whose first choice has been eliminated. Was this a mainstream choice? Obviously not. That person’s first choice of candidate was a loser. Why would their second choice be any better? In fact, the entire process of counting ranked ballots is a process of adding losers’ choices to the front running candidates.
This is why in selecting from large numbers of candidates, a ranked ballot system is really a process of diving down in the group to find the least contentious candidates.
The civility that proponents of ranked balloting claim can be very phony as candidates work their opponents for that precious second vote.
The increased diversity that ranked ballots are supposed to enable is happening anyway as more and more of us see how the inclusion of racialized and diverse backgrounds strengthens our political process.
There are many claims for different types of voting. No system is perfect nor is there any ideal solution. Open minds can look at alternatives and closed minds will get nowhere.
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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