BRATTLEBORO — RE: “America at a crossroads” [Viewpoint, Oct. 31]:
In response to my article concerning the similarities and differences of the two parties that have a headlock on our political process, a number of folks have asked me: “OK, so what do we do about it?”
I am very troubled by the problem that arises in a close race when a progressive candidate leeches votes from a moderate, resulting in a win for a reactionary candidate. The problem is that the rules of the game are fixed against additional parties.
To be effective, rather than throwing our few votes against a brick wall and aiding the very worst candidate possible, we need to first change the rules of the game.
Here is the very simple way to fix the two party stranglehold:
For All Elections:
1) Instant run-off elections. You rank the candidates by number. If three run, you rank them 1 through 3; if five, then 1 through 5, etc.
If your first choice does not get the greatest number of votes, your vote automatically shifts to your second choice, and so on. This calculation is very easy to program into vote counting machines and is perhaps the only way to truly address this issue.
You could then vote for your favorite candidate, even one who supposedly has no chance, instead of having to vote for the one you think is the lesser of two evils. And this way, you can both vote your mind and your heart, and not waste your vote.
For presidential elections:
2) Elimination of the Electoral College. This way, everyone's vote will count, and all will count equally, no matter where you live in the USA.
While this proposed fix is very simple, it is up against a major obstacle: it relies upon the graces of the two main parties to make it law. They seem unlikely to want to legislate, to their own detriment.
One way around this is to pass citizen's ballot referenda in every state. A long haul, but I think well worthwhile.
There is a good argument that, as long as the Electoral College remains in place, if you live in a state that is a lock for one candidate or the other, you can safely vote third-party to speak your mind or just to raise awareness that there are other possibilities.
However, it is also essential to remember that George W. Bush was elected by fewer than 600 votes in Florida. You should be very certain that your vote will not change anything for the worse before you go for a third party.