Reclaiming Democracy in the 21st Century.

• Author: Richie, Rob

Instant Runoffs, Proportional Representation, and Cumulative Voting

It had been decades since control of both the White House and Capitol Hill was so furiously contested. The presidential polls were close right up to Election Day, producing the most competitive race in a generation. Yet once again more than 100 million American adults abstained from the November elections. This majority was disproportionately young, poor, less educated, and of color. Their absence provides the clearest evidence that we are becoming a post-electoral democracy: one where many civil institutions are strong and most rights reasonably well-protected, but where the elections at democracy's core are unobserved and their potential to mobilize, inform, and transform are unrealized.

It doesn't have to be this way. In fact, most established democracies already provide their voters with better and more viable choices. In presidential elections, they have runoff or instant runoff elections that allow a sincere first choice rather than one for the "lesser of two evils." To elect legislatures, they use proportional representation systems that make every voter important, not just those fortunate few living in the handful of districts that are competitive in our system. Voters can cast meaningful choices not only between the major parties, but also within those parties and among smaller parties to the left, right, and center.

Reforms of the fundamental electoral rules can sometimes seem of secondary importance in the face of pressing issues like national health care, world trade inequities, a living wage, legalization of drugs, reparations for African Americans, campaign finance reform, and a laundry list of worthwhile but still-distant goals. In fact, only fundamental reform of our voting practices will liberate supporters of these goals to express themselves at the ballot box.

Full Representation for All

We have been pleased to see the remarkable rise in interest and activism on behalf of instant runoff voting. Last year's debate over Ralph Nader's Green Party candidacy revealed a serious flaw in our antiquated electoral rules: voting for your favorite candidate can lead to the election of your least favorite candidate. We need instant runoff voting to encouraging people to vote for their favorite candidate and insure majority rule, but instant runoff voting remains a majoritarian system. Because minor party candidates won't be much more successful in winning office than under plurality rules, advocates should focus on winning instant runoff voting for inherently winner-take-all offices (like president, governor and mayor).

Proportional representation--or, as we prefer to say, "full representation"--would have a dramatic impact on voter choice and representation in our congressional elections. It ensures that any grouping of like-minded people--minorities and majorities-- gets a fair share of power and representation in our legislative bodies, whereas our current winner-take-all principle can award 100% of the representation to a 50.1% majority. If black voters comprise 20% of the vote in a racially polarized county, they can elect at least 1 of the 5 seats--rather than be shut out, as they would be in a traditional...