The Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative

America has been acknowledged as being one of the world’s leading democracies, but to continue implementing the use of the Electoral College creates some distortion to that title. The out of date system does not accurately portray democracy. Theoretically, a democracy is government system that is ruled by the people. In reality, an individual’s vote may not matter depending on the state they reside in. Robert Dahl, a Democratic Theorist stated, “every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as equal.” Political equality is important to the distribution of power. Even if a person is wealthy and of power their vote should be counted the same as someone in poverty.

In the following essay I will be talking about the disadvantages and advantages of partisan elections for state politics. I will also examine the last couple year's election results and costs. Finally, I will discuss if partisanship made a difference in the vote, as well as if a judge should be decided by partisan vote. In the next couple paragraphs I will talk more specifically about these topics.

In the “Redrawing the Electoral Map: Reforming The Electoral College With the District-Popular Plan,” Craig J. Herbst discusses the reformation of the Electoral College, using a different method for elections, and the U.S. Constitution. The author argues that District-Popular Plan method is better for the nation because if it is used candidates will have put more effort into developing strategies for the popular vote, and people would be more knowledgeable about politics with those developments. Herbst notes that District-Popular Plan can help groups of people who are disadvantaged and underrepresented. He also states that the only and the best way to do this to have a constitutional amendment which is so hard to pass. Ultimately, he concludes the article with explaining the benefits of having the District-Popular Plan. Craig J. Herbst’s article was published in Hofstra Law Review which is and academic and credible source because it is peer-reviewed by experts on the issue. The purpose of this source is to inform people about the Electoral College and the U.S Constitution, and an alternative way for the Electoral College. I will use this source to get more information

I read an interesting article in our local newspaper, The Panolian. The article was written by the editor of the paper, John Howell. Mr. Howell is a great writer. He lives in Batesville, Mississippi some of the time, Mr. Howell’s article was about the upcoming election for several positions in Panola County. In August we will be voting for Sheriff, Supervisors, and Justice Court. In Mississippi we have an open primary. Open Primary means that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents can vote for the candidate of their choice. Voting is very important. It is a privilege to be able to vote for the person you think can best represent your views and values. Mr. Howell give us a politics 101, crash course in voting and the electoral system. Although

The book “The Persuadable Voter” by Sunshine Hillygus and Todd Shields examines voters decisions and actions with a focus on persuadable voters. Hillygus and Shields define the persuadable voter as a reasoned voter who vote might change, is undetermined or may not agree with their party. Persuadable voters are often used synonymously with independents and those without a strong partisanship towards one party or the other. Persuadable voters have been often simplified without much examination that goes into what causes these voters to be persuadable or influenceable. Hillygus and Shields question modern myths about persuadable voters and offer their own thoughts on the topic. The authors found that the persuadable voters

A consistent issue with voting in the USA throughout the past few decades is that the majority of votes come fro9m one of two groups: the elderly and those devoted to their political party. One thing that these two groups have in common is that there is no more room for nuanced opinions within them; the elderly stick to the values that they have learned throughout their lives and the politically devote will vote for any representation that bears the title “Democrat” or “Republican”. Unlike these two groups, younger groups have not been conditioned to strictly abide by political

Voting for politicians to represent us, the people, occurs quite frequently than people think of or expect. We vote for our nation’s president every four years, senators 6 years, and house of representatives every two years on an even ending year. In addition, on voting day, people also have the opportunity to vote for measures that affect the local community at city level, and at the state level. This means that citizens have the power to change their community. For example, in the last ballot, residents of Temecula were able to vote for Measure S. Measure S proposed to raise the local tax by 1%, to help fund emergency response times. According to the website, Votersedge, a total of 38,646 people voted for or against the measure. In a city that has a

This past weekend, mid-term elections took place nationwide. According to the United States Election Project headed by Dr. Michael McDonald at University of Florida,with just a voter turnout of 36.4%, it was the lowest overall turnout since World War II which occurred 70 years ago. Mid-term elections are congressional elections that occur halfway through the president’s term. Congressional ballots are held every two years and all House of Representative seats are contested as well as one-third of Senate seats. Most state legislature and governor elections(about thirty six out of fifty states) occur the same day(M.D.). These elections have the ability to change the way America is governed. For example, with the 1994 mid-term elections that occurred during President Clinton’s reign came a power shift within the House and the Senate from Democrats to Republicans. This power shift resulted in the reform of the welfare system. Therefore, it is important for people, especially minorities, to exercise the right to vote.

Consider the populations of Alaska and California, 700,000 and 37,000,000 people respectively (Census 2010); incorporating their electoral power of three and 55, a simple inference that Alaska owns approximately one electoral vote per 233,000 residents and California owns one electoral vote per 673,000 residents can be made (Gossett 1970). This basic calculation essentially means the vote of an Alaskan is worth close to three times as much as a Californian vote. Additionally, this unequal value of a citizen’s vote combined with states disparate voter turnout rates further exacerbates the aggregate inequality of votes. Clearly imbalanced in modern times, the Electoral College is an institution in dire need of

Just a few weeks ago, if you were to turn on the TV, you 'd be bombarded with political advertising campaigns. During the height of a midterm election season, campaign ads are just one demonstration of candidates pouring funds into their race with the hopes of creating name recognition and getting our votes. Not all tactics of gaining votes are as transparent as witnessing a negative ad campaign; some unethical ways of gaining votes are rather questionable, such as Gerrymandering. I wanted explore the basis behind gerrymandering and understand not only how it affects elections here in New York, but nationwide as well; what has come from the races as we announce the winners of these elections and possible reform for a better voting system in our country.

To have an effective democracy, a country must have an effective electoral system. The First Past the Post electoral system, used in the United States popular vote, has come under fire as being ineffective and inadequate when compared to rival electoral systems. Two articles that represent the sides of this debate are “Vote of no Confidence” by McKenna and Cameron’s speech “Keeping First Past the Post is Vital for Democracy”. In his article, McKenna says that First Past the Post allows for “a negation of democracy”, and discusses how other electoral systems would be superior. On the other hand, Cameron decries the Alternative Vote system, the most likely replacement of First Past the Post, saying that it “makes winners of losers and losers of winners”.

Instant runoff voting, or ranked choice voting, is a simple change that can make America’s democracy fairer and functional. With instant runoff voting, voters rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice. In the event that one candidate fails to achieve a sufficient majority, the candidate with the fewest number of first-preference rankings is eliminated and these votes redistributed, the process being repeated until one candidate achieves the required majority (FairVote.org. Instant Runoff). Under this system, candidates will do best when they attract a strong core of first choice support while also reaching out to second and even third choices. Instant runoff voting helps elect a candidate that better reflects the support of a majority of voters. It also promotes positive campaigns. In a non-ranked choice (runoff) elections, candidates will often benefit themselves by denigrating other candidates. But with a ranking system, candidates must reach out positively to as many people as possible, including people who support their opponents (FairVote.org. Instant Runoff). Instant runoff voting provides more choices for voters. Rather than being stuck with two candidates, instant runoff voting allows more than two candidates to compete without fear of splitting the vote. Instant runoff voting also reduces the impact of money in politics. “Candidates who have run and won in ranked choice voting elections have been successful because they built grassroots outreach networks. Those more positive and inclusive campaign tactics cost less than polarizing negative radio and television elections, helping to explain why candidates seem able to win ranked choice voting elections even when outspent” (FairVote.org. Instant Runoff) Instant runoff voting will also prevent the “lesser of two evils” voting scenarios. With a runoff system, voters can vote for the candidate they honestly

When I think about a political community, I usually associate it with elections, politicians, and advertisements that bad mouth candidates from the different political parties. Politicians try to persuade citizens to vote for them by making promises that they may never fulfill. But a political community is more than that. A comparison of Aristotle and John Locke’s nature and purpose of a political community has given me a new insight. I learned that, even though the political community is responsible to provide security, its main purpose is aimed for the highest good of all its citizens, which is virtue and happiness.

United States’ voting is looked at through two different functionary systems, closed and open. Close and open systems are a method of looking at how external factors influence that system; I use this method to distinguish between the theoretical level of voting and how the voting system works when put into the real world (Heylighten and Joselyn 1992; Walonick 1993). A closed-system analysis of voting provides a foundational understanding of how the voting process works. This method of analysis allows for a theoretical understanding of how the voting process should work; essentially, it is an explanation of the structures, laws, etc. that allow the voting processes to be carried out in America’s democratic society. Looking at the voting process through an open-system allows for an understanding with external influences. This part of the first section analyses how the voting process works in reality. It addresses questions like, why do people vote and why should or shouldn’t people vote? Further, the open-system approach looks at who ends up voting. Overall the two approaches to understanding the voting process, open and closed systems, establish a foundation of knowledge later linked to the influences of education on the voting

The Single Transferable Vote system is a system that was invented by a mathematician whose processes are lengthy and confusing to the people who actually use it to implement change: voters. The currently used Single Member Plurality system is widely understood and the best system for Manitoban voters. While some may argue that the Single Transferrable Vote system is a superior method of electing members of government in Manitoba, due to the unfamiliarity with candidates, lack of voter involvement, and confusing nature of the system, the current Single Member Plurality system is more effective and reflective of the actual views of the electors.