Instant runoff voting offers real choice

To get beyond the system of two entrenched political parties, we need to have more room for minor parties and a wider variety of ideas. The current election system is the problem. It allows a candidate with a minority of the votes to win, while minor parties are left to be only spoilers.

A simple election reform called Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) can fix this problem. With IRV, you can rank the candidates as first, second, third choice, etc., and if your first choice is eliminated, your vote goes to your second choice, and so on. That way, no one is a spoiler, and the winner has the support of the majority of voters. It gives the people a real choice among a variety of candidates. It also reduces negative campaigning, since candidates want to gain the secondary votes of people voting for other candidates. We hope to get an IRV bill passed in the Legislature this session.

Everett