Spoiling the spoilers with RCV
All while giving third-party voters meaningful voice
Editor’s note: Not having to stress over RFK Jr. spoiling the presidential election? What’s not to like! Our first piece by a guest contributor, FairVote CEO Meredith Sumpter, explains why ranked choice voting fixes the spoiler problem — in just 362 words (a 2 min read).
The presidential election has been reset after six weeks like no other in modern American politics. Yet, the race is still a nailbiter. It is going to be decided by the tiniest margins in just a handful of competitive states.
As November approaches, we should expect to hear a lot of bipartisan panic about spoilers. There are more than two candidates running for president, and record numbers of voters who identify as independent or feel that the two major parties have not been delivering.
While it’s dangerous to predict anything this year, it’s pretty safe to say that neither former President Trump nor Vice President Harris will receive 50 percent of the vote in the states that matter most. The difference between them will be smaller than the number of votes earned by third-party candidates — as it was in the decisive states in 2020 and 2016.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Ranked choice voting is the answer to the spoiler problem. This fall, Maine and Alaska will vote for president with RCV. Voters in these two states can authentically vote for who they want without fear of playing “spoiler.” If a voter’s first choice has no chance of winning the election, their vote will simply count for their backup choice.
If every state followed Maine and Alaska’s lead there would be no concern that a third-party candidate could tip a close state — and thus the White House — in a countermajoritarian direction.
Wouldn’t the result — and our elections writ large — have more legitimacy if everyone knew that the electoral votes in those close states went to a winner with more than 50 percent of the vote? The White House should not come down to whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wins 1.1 percent of the vote in Michigan or 1.3, or whether a Libertarian in Arizona carries 0.4 percent or 0.5.
The results of an election need to speak for everyone. And the winner needs to be accountable to all of us. Let’s make this the last election where nominees and the president are chosen without RCV — and the final time we ever need to stress over spoilers.
Meredith Sumpter is the President and CEO of FairVote, a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections for every American.
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