[Lnc-business] Fwd: Re: The Wisdom of Bernie Sanders

[Ken Moellman]

Nathaniel, 

Thank you for your message. I understand the rationale behind what
you're advocating. However, I would submit that it's precisely the
"lesser of two" approach that has led us to where we are today. A lack
of real electoral competition due to the various election laws around
the country mean that our electoral system is turning into a "Race to
the Bottom" in quality. 

Instead, I suggest taking a look at Instant Runoff Voting a.k.a. Ranked
Choice Voting. This form of voting allows voters to assign a ranked
preference of candidates, so there's no burden on the voter other than
being able to count basic numbers. The votes are all then tallied, and
if someone has over 50%, then they win. If not, then the person with the
least #1 votes is removed, and the people who chose that person as their
#1 have their #2 choice moved up to #1, and the votes are re-tallied.
It's hard to do by hand, but easy to do with a computer. This ensures
there's no "vote-splitting" and that there's a true 50%+1 winner. And
the establishment politicians fear this type of system more than
anything, because it means they can't corral voters with fear anymore -
candidates would actually have to run positive campaigns. 

You can get more information on IRV/RCV from Wikipedia, at
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_Runoff_Voting [2] and from
FairVote at http://www.fairvote.org/ [3] 

Thank you, 
Ken Moellman 
---

Ken C. Moellman, Jr.
LNC Region 3 Alternate Representative
LPKY Judicial Committee 

On 2017-02-04 13:42, Nathaniel Batchelder wrote: 

> LEARNING THE WISDOM OF BERENIE SANDERS 
> 
> Bernie Sanders ran in the Democratic Party's Primary. When Hillary Clinton became the candidate he immediately endorsed her. He begged his supporters, and members of other parties, to vote for Hillary against Donald.
> 
> But America got Trumped. Here's how never to get Trumped again.
> 
> In America's current two-party, winner-take-all system, one of the top two candidates is going to win. All others will lose.
> 
> In November, 2016, some people did not vote. That did not help to defeat Trump. Some voted for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. That did not help to defeat Trump. Six million people who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 did not vote for Hillary Clinton. That did not help to defeat Trump.
> 
> Lesson: In every U.S. election - local, state & national - ballots present voters with a better and a worse candidate, one of whom will win. All others will lose. Defeating the worse of the two is paramount, because more things will be possible during the years they will NOT be in office. It also opens the possibility of even better candidates running in future elections.
> 
> Let us unite to defeat "the worst" in every election, if we hope ever to elect "the better" in the future. 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Peace and Onward,
> Nathaniel Batchelder at The Peace House in Oklahoma City
> www.PeaceHouseOK.org [1]
 

Links:
------
[1] http://www.PeaceHouseOK.org
[2] http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_Runoff_Voting
[3] http://www.fairvote.org/
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