There are three ways to win an election. The first is to run unopposed. There aren’t many elections like that. The second path to victory is to gain a majority of the votes cast in the balloting. That’s how most races are decided. The third way is to win by a plurality. For those not familiar with the term, a “plurality” is when one gets the most votes and wins but doesn’t achieve a majority.
Abraham Lincoln won the presidency by a plurality in his election for President in 1860. In that contest he was the only Republican running. Lincoln faced the sitting Vice President John Breckinridge (the Kamala Harris of the time), Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas and John Bell, the former Speaker of the House, Democrats all. Lincoln won the presidency with just under 40% of the popular vote with the other 60% splitting their votes among the Democrats in the race. In his reelection campaign in 1864, Lincoln defeated General George McClellan with 55% of the vote. Of course, only two thirds of the country could vote in that election (23 states remained in the Union and voted, while 11 states were still in the Confederacy). Had the South been allowed to vote in that election (the fly in the buttermilk was they were still in rebellion, claiming to be a separate country, so naturally they didn’t participate in the Union’s presidential election), Lincoln would certainly have lost in a landslide.
People talk about democracy as a “majority rule” system but we routinely elect people without a majority. In addition to the plurality issue, not all are who are eligible to vote are registered to vote and not all who are registered to vote choose to cast a ballot. While the statistics vary from election to election, a “high” voter turnout in a presidential contest has only about two-thirds of those eligible to vote actually voting. Of course, that two-thirds is then fractured among the various candidates thus ensuring that even candidates who win a “majority” haven’t really when the non-voters, both registered and otherwise, are factored in.
In 2020, Donald Trump and Joe Biden squared off against each other, but the Green Party had Howie Hawkins with his running mate Angela Walker and the Libertarian Party had their candidates Jo Jorgensen and running mate Spike Cohen on enough state ballots so that the Greens or the Libertarians could theoretically have won enough Electoral College votes to achieve the presidency. There were seven other candidates that qualified to appear on five or more states’ ballots also. Because of that multiplicity of candidates and fragmentation of the vote, Joe Biden got 51% of the vote, a bare majority, to Donald Trump’s 47%. Often, major party candidates win without a majority vote. Bill Clinton won reelection in 1996 with 49% of the vote, denied a majority by the third party candidacy of Ross Perot. In 2000, Al Gore had more popular votes but lost the presidency to George W. Bush, in part because of Ralph Nader’s third party candidacy. In 2016, Hillary Clinton had 48% of the popular vote to Donald Trump’s 46% but lost the White House. That’s because the Electoral College is the body that actually decides who becomes president and not the popular vote total. That means if a candidate wins the largest twelve states in the country they win; with the magic 12 comes enough electoral votes to reach a majority of 270 thus winning the presidency regardless of how the other 38 states might have voted.
In order to ensure that a candidate receives a majority vote, 50 jurisdictions in the country use “rank choice voting”. Those 50 jurisdictions include several municipalities and two states, Alaska and Maine. Only Maine uses rank choice voting up and down the ballot, including for the presidency. I’d like to see the City of Mitchell adopt rank choice voting.
The way it works is like this. In a contested election with more than two candidates, a voter casts a ballot for all candidates in that race by ranking them. So, in the municipal elections coming up on June 4th there would be several races where rank choice voting would come into play.
First the local races that would NOT use rank choice voting. The lake ballot issue is a yes or no question, so no rank choice voting. Ward 3 has no race; Marty Barrington is running unopposed so no rank choice or really any other kind of voting in that Ward. Ward 2 features a one on one contest with Kevin McCardle facing Shaun Davis and again, no rank choice voting there either.
However, in the mayoral race there are three candidates, Bob Everson, Terry Sabers and Jordan Hanson. In Ward 1 there are three candidates, Dan Sabers, Sarah Deakins and Jesse Stroud while in Ward 4 there are also three candidates, Jeff Smith, Don Everson and Montana Walcott. In all of these contests, rank choice voting would be used. Voters would vote for all three candidates in a race by placing a number – 1,2, or 3 beside each name. The first choices would be tabulated and if one candidate receives a majority, that’s it – the race is over, and a winner is declared. But if there is no majority winner then the bottom candidate is dropped, and their voters’ second choices from that dropped candidate’s ballots are then added to the remaining candidates vote totals with that process then achieving a majority and thereby a winner.
Often in Mitchell municipal elections, something like only 25% of the eligible people vote and then those votes are split three or more ways, depending on the number of candidates, resulting in a truly minority victor. Rank choice voting helps to more clearly identify who the voters want to have in office; even if their first choice can’t win, at least the second choice of most of those voting would come out on top. Of course, if there is an absolute tie, then some other method must be used to determine a winner. Some states, like Georgia, say if there is no majority winner in a statewide election then a runoff election must be held with the top two candidates. The Washington Post reports that 35 states decide deadlocked elections by drawing straws or with the toss of a coin while Nevada and Arizona have the tied candidates cut a deck of cards with the high card winning office.
Democracy only works with the participation of The People. Folks have to register and then vote in elections. The electorate has to educate themselves on the candidates and the issues so that when it comes time to cast a ballot that vote is based on fact and principle rather than whim and chance.
I believe in majority rule. I believe our voting system should be designed to achieve a clear outcome and a majority mandate for those who win elections. Rank choice voting for races with more than two candidates is a way to better reflect the true will of those concerned enough to vote. I think it’s time Mitchell adopted such a system. It is too late for the election to be held on June 4th but not too late for future elections.