Apparently, Tennessee citizens are too dumb for rank choice voting, a method of voting that works well in other states, municipalities, and locales.
Rank choice voting is also called “Instant Runoff Voting.” This allows for voters to rank their choices from one, two, three, etc. and if no candidate gets 50 percent or more on the first round, the lowest vote getter gets tossed and the voters who voted for this guy gets to have their second choice become first choice and so on until WE get a candidate with at leat 50 percent of the voters behind him or her.
Now we can have someone in office with 20 percent of the vote or thereabouts. What is representative government about that? Not much, I say; but then again, I am just a dumb Tennessee voter.
This week Tennessee lawmakers outlawed rank choice voting or instant runoff voting in our state elections. This has been a long running legal dispute as to whether the Volunteer State or agreeable municipalities in Tennessee would allow for rank choice voting.
The Tennessee lawmaker who sponsored the bill to kill the process that some say allows for a broader choice of candidates in essence said the system was “confusing” and apparently too complicated for Tennessee voters to figure out. That guy said, in essence, he ‘thinks’ that is the case. I think he, in essence is saying, “Do not worry your pretty little head with things so complicated as voting. WE will take care of that for you!” And they did.
In rank choice voting, which state lawmakers decided we are too dumb to do — “If your vote cannot help your top choice win, your vote counts for your next choice.” — This is a quote from FairVote. Below is a more complete explanation from FairVote:
Here is more from Fair Vote: “
If your vote cannot help your top choice win, your vote counts for your next choice, according to FairVote.
Here is how FairVote explains it:
“If a candidate receives more than half of the first choices in races where voters elect one winner, that candidate wins, just like in a single-choice election. However, if there is no majority winner after counting first choices, the race is decided by an “instant runoff.” The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as ‘number 1’ will have their votes count for their next choice. This process continues until there’s a majority winner or a candidate won with more than half of the vote,” according to FairVote.
I think this is a great idea and I was looking forward to US trying it out; but then again, I am just a dumb Tennessee voter.
Here is more from me:
Across the United States more than 50 municipalities and other governmental jurisdictions in states other than Tennessee will be using some form of rank choice voting. But, apparently, according to the vote taken this week by Tennessee lawmakers, voters in the Volunteer state are too dense to figure out the system, so we do not get to do it or even learn more about it or even vote on it ourselves to see if we want it here. I for one would have liked to have seen it implemented in Stewart County/Dover/ and I am not a taxpayer in Cumberland City, but I think they needed a say in it too.
A simple way to describe rank choice voting would be if you have.. oh, say, five candidates running for Stewart County Mayor, then you could rank those candidates from one to five. If your candidate comes up last, and no other candidate gets a majority, then you go to the next ranking and your second choice could become a first choice. If a candidate got say, 90 percent of the second place votes and was at least four out of five in the first round, then she, or he would win. I think this is a good plan since now we can have a candidate with a small plurality of voters rule with an iron fist with about 20 percent of the voters behind him or her.
The rank choice voting system allows voters to rank their votes from top preference, second choice, third and so on if applicable and this will avoid costly and time consuming runoffs if no candidate tops 50 percent. Also, one rank choice voting method allows for the next lowest vote getter to get tossed until some candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote, which sounds like a representative form of government to me.. but then again, I am just a dumb Tennessee voter.
Anyway, I was looking at the possibility of doing rank choice voting in the LBLUS.com area… Pretty dumb, huh?
This Opinion piece is the opinion of the writer, David R. Ross, and in no way reflects the opinion of LBLUS.com.. oh wait a minute, it does since I pay for the site and it is my First Amendment right to express my opinon — at least for now….
This OPINION piece may update .. What do you think? .. Let LBLUS.com know in the comment box below.
https://www.fairvote.org/rcv#where_is_ranked_choice_voting_used
