Liberal Forum

Mrkelly » 26 minutes ago » wrote: ↑

26 minutes ago

  your ignorance is enough

• When no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of tabulation, some voters’ ballots must be trashed to force a majority. This is not a flaw in the system, it is the system.
• Rather than just voting for one candidate, voters must vote for (i.e., rank) all candidates to ensure that their ballots are counted and not trashed. This includes voting for candidates with whom a voter fundamentally disagrees.
• When a voter selects only one candidate on their ballot, either as their first choice or for all choices, and that candidate is no longer in contention, their ballots are thrown in the trash.
• Elections in Maine, Alaska, and New York City are examples of thousands of trashed ballots under ranked-choice voting. By throwing away these ballots, ranked-choice voting has erased their votes and left their voices unheard in the American democratic system.

• In Maine’s 2018 Second Congressional District election, more than 8,000 ballots were thrown in the trash. Bruce Poliquin (R) received 46.33 percent of the vote ahead of Jared Golden’s (D) 45.58 percent. But since Poliquin didn’t receive 50 percent, there was a second round of tabulation. The secretary of state threw out more than 8,000 ballots and Golden was declared the winner—but with only 49.2 percent of the total ballots cast.
• In Alaska’s 2022 congressional special election, Republican candidates received 60 percent of the vote in the first round, but the Democrat won. Nearly 15,000 were trashed, and the Democrat won by a little more than 5,000 votes.