The Problem:
(Jump to solutions)
Our current election system divides us by design. When voters can only pick one or the other, the “other” becomes the enemy. Voters are forced to pick between two bad choices because they’re told that if the other team wins, it’s the end of democracy as we know it. Then, when a third option tries to come along and give voters a better choice, they’re denounced as a spoiler who will pull votes from the “good” candidate. All of this is caused by our “first past the post” voting system.
Here is a popular video explaining how First Past the Post voting can result in minority rule and entrenched two-party systems:
Paths Forward:
Better voting methods ☑️
Upgrade our voting methods to let voters express their preferences in more nuanced ways.
Alternative voting systems such as Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV), Approval Voting, and STAR Voting provide more nuanced and representative election outcomes compared to the traditional First Past The Post (FPTP) system.
- RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, ensuring that if no candidate wins an outright majority, the least popular candidates are eliminated, and their votes redistributed until a majority winner emerges.
- Approval Voting lets voters select all the candidates they approve of, and the candidate with the most approvals wins.
- STAR Voting (Score Then Automatic Runoff) combines rating candidates on a scale and then conducting an automatic runoff between the two highest-scoring candidates, where the one preferred by the most voters in the head-to-head matchup wins.
These systems help mitigate vote splitting, reduce the impact of tactical voting, and ensure that elected candidates have broader support among the electorate.
Used In: Many US cities; Australia; Ireland
Impact:
- Increased voter satisfaction
- Elected winners have majority support and higher approval rates
- More diverse representation
- Reduced spoiler effect
Sources:
Proportional representation ⚖️
Upgrade our electoral system to unlock a more representative multiparty democracy.
Proportional representation (PR) is an electoral system that allocates legislative seats in proportion to the number of votes each party or candidate receives. This system ensures that the composition of the legislature better mirrors the overall preferences of voters, as opposed to winner-takes-all systems. PR can be implemented through methods like party-list representation or single transferable vote (STV), promoting a more inclusive and diverse political landscape.
Used In: Many, if not most, of the most democratic countries in the world use some form of proportional representation, including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finalnd, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, and Spain.
Impact:
- More accurate representation of diverse political views and preferences
- Multi-party systems that encourage broader consensus
- Higher voter turnout attributed to voters feeling their vote is more likely to make a difference
Sources: