Will a 3rd party candidate ultimately re-elect Trump? Time for Ranked Choice Voting?

[Franisdaman]

Hate to say it, but if Howard Schultz stays in the race (he has plenty of his own money to spend) and gains traction, this could cause all kinds of chaos.

This is also a reason I like like ranked choice voting.

If I like Schultz, he can be my 1st choice and then I can vote my 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc. The candidate who gets 50% plus 1 of the vote in any given state wins that particular state as far the Electoral College goes.

$hit, I should quit this basketball gig and get into politics!!! America needs me!!!

 

[Hawk_82]

I'm all for it.

 

[Franisdaman]

I'm all for it.

you are all for my candidacy?

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Excuses already..russia, 3rd party...

 

[Hawk_82]

you are all for my candidacy?

I have you dead even with Trump right now. Once I see that you are not a 12 year old girl then you would skyrocket to the top.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Most 3rd party folks also like this. Not because they think it will help them win but because it lets them demonstrate support.

Most people who preferred Gary Johnson or Jill Stein last time didn't vote for them because they figured that would be throwing their vote away and might even help the worst of the 2 main candidates win.

But with IRV you can vote your real choice first. You can probably even vote your 2nd choice next. And only somewhere down the line vote for the least objectionable of the major party candidates.

So . . . in the first round, maybe Gary and Jill get 2 or 3 or 5 times what they actually tallied in 2016. They still don't win, but everybody knows how America feels about them and their policies. And everybody knows that America wasn't really all that thrilled with Trump or Hillary. Not just that they weren't thrilled - which most of us knew - but exactly how much they weren't thrilled.

On the one hand, that encourages any minor parties that get good results. On the other, it says to the majors "hey, look, you'd better pay attention to the issues raised by these parties." To me that's a huge benefit to our society.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Most 3rd party folks also like this. Not because they think it will help them win but because it lets them demonstrate support.

Most people who preferred Gary Johnson or Jill Stein last time didn't vote for them because they figured that would be throwing their vote away and might even help the worst of the 2 main candidates win.

But with IRV you can vote your real choice first. You can probably even vote your 2nd choice next. And only somewhere down the line vote for the least objectionable of the major party candidates.

So . . . in the first round, maybe Gary and Jill get 2 or 3 or 5 times what they actually tallied in 2016. They still don't win, but everybody knows how America feels about them and their policies. And everybody knows that America wasn't really all that thrilled with Trump or Hillary. Not just that they weren't thrilled - which most of us knew - but exactly how much they weren't thrilled.

On the one hand, that encourages any minor parties that get good results. On the other, it says to the majors "hey, look, you'd better pay attention to the issues raised by these parties." To me that's a huge benefit to our society.

The only thing that makes me nervous is that now if I am a dem and I don't want to throw my vote away AND I dont really know any policies of the other candidates my last ballot reads:

Clinton
Jill
Johnson
Trump

Not knowing anything about the other candidates can also be dangerous. It the two major party candidates keep getting split like this, what does it look like?

 

[ottumwan in tx]

Trump's going to re-elect Trump by doing what he said he is going to do having a good economy no Russia collusion etc etc

 

[unIowa]

Moving to a ranked choice voting system is such a better idea than eliminating the electoral college.

I am not sure why a third party doesn’t do this for their primaries. Sell the shite out of the idea and then embed it into your primaries...get the hype machine moving and people will gravitate towards it (politics is mostly hype anyway).

 

[Franisdaman]

Moving to a ranked choice voting system is such a better idea than eliminating the electoral college.

I am not sure why a third party doesn’t do this for their primaries. Sell the shite out of the idea and then embed it into your primaries...get the hype machine moving and people will gravitate towards it (politics is mostly hype anyway).

If we had ranked choice in 1992, who would have won the Presidency?

 

[Franisdaman]

I argued for ranked choice voting over 5 years ago, in May, 2019.

If I like a 3rd party candidate like Mitt Romney, he can be my 1st choice and then I can vote my 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc. The candidate who gets 50% plus 1 of the vote in any given state wins that particular state as far the Electoral College goes.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

If there was any year a third party candidate could win its this year.

You’d think we’d have a viable one this year but we don’t. 😔

 

[tarheelbybirth]

Forget about it. GOP-led states Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Kentucky have already banned it. Arkansas is possibly following suit. Alaska may repeal it. Congress would have to override that and I can barely type that without laughing out loud.

Ranked choice voting nationally isn't going anywhere.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

If there was any year a third party candidate could win its this year.

You’d think we’d have a viable one this year but we don’t. 😔

Fair point.

As I mentioned before, I bet the No Labels folks are kicking themselves for dropping out too soon.

And, as I also suggested previously, the Dems could avert some vote loss if they pick candidates with strong environmental credentials. They don't actually have to run on climate change - I'm not asking for a miracle - but if they have good people on the ticket, they'll attract a lot of Greens.

 

[RicoSuave102954]

Hate to say it, but if Howard Schultz stays in the race (he has plenty of his own money to spend) and gains traction, this could cause all kinds of chaos.

This is also a reason I like like ranked choice voting.

If I like Schultz, he can be my 1st choice and then I can vote my 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc. The candidate who gets 50% plus 1 of the vote in any given state wins that particular state as far the Electoral College goes.

$hit, I should quit this basketball gig and get into politics!!! America needs me!!!

LOL

 

[Franisdaman]

If there was any year a third party candidate could win its this year.

You’d think we’d have a viable one this year but we don’t. 😔

what do you think about ranked choice voting?

 

[DirtyJohns97]

5 year bump, I have to admit, I am impressed.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

what do you think about ranked choice voting?

*sigh* It’s a non-starter. The GOP will never allow it. The only way they win the presidency now is through the EC and RCV could cost them that advantage - and they know it. That’s why they’re blocking it at the state level.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

what do you think about ranked choice voting?

It’s interesting. Worth a shot.

 

[Franisdaman]

*sigh* It’s a non-starter. The GOP will never allow it. The only way they win the presidency now is through the EC and RCV could cost them that advantage - and they know it. That’s why they’re blocking it at the state level.

One thing I love about it is that you would never have to have a runoff election

 

[Franisdaman]

It’s interesting. Worth a shot.

Some cities have it and the winner always has more than 50% of the vote

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

One thing I love about it is that you would never have to have a runoff election

Plus, depending on which version of runoff voting you employ, the winner would always have the approval of at least 50% of voters. Winners would be actual winners.

Couple that with an Australian-style mandatory voting system and our elected leaders would actually be the choice of the people.

What a concept.

Just as an example, Obama beat Romney in 2012 with 51.1% of the vote. Pretty good, right? Clear majority, right? But only 58.6% of eligible voters turned out. Which means Obama only got the support of 29.9% of eligible voters. Not even remotely close to a majority.

Or take the 2016 election. The turnout was a bit higher at 60.1% but Trump only got 46.1%. Meaning Trump only got the support of 27.7% of eligible voters.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

One thing I love about it is that you would never have to have a runoff election

Well, technically, it's an automatic runoff with candidates being dropped until somebody crosses the threshold but I get what you're saying. It's still never going to happen.