Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage.
Credit: AP
AUGUSTA, MAINE —Maine is about to embark on an unprecedented experiment in American democracy, and Paul LePage—the state’s belligerent, foul-mouthed and polarizing governor—is a big part of the reason why. After eight years of LePage, who made national headlines by telling the NAACP to “kiss my butt” and informed a state senator that he wanted to “give it to the people without Vaseline” while tangling with the leaders of his own party—voters here are willing to try almost anything to improve the political climate, even something no other state has ever tried before.
So in June, Maine will hold the nation’s first statewide primary election using ranked choice voting, a rarely used system championed by political reformers whereby voters get to rank their candidate preferences, rather than simply choosing their favorite. The election is the result of a citizen’s referendum passed nearly two years ago, and a whole lot of wrangling and maneuvering in between, and will even include a ballot question that, in effect, […]
I’m unsure as to how ME will structure this ‘test’. Our Canuck PM stated before being elected in 2015, that the then federal election, using FPTP (First Past The Post) system of electing would be the last. Finally a few months back, he became candid that the system undergoing legislative change in ME was the one he favoured. Using that and noticing in Canada there is at least 4 parties vying for parliamentary seats, the elected in ’15 Fiberals would have had an even greater majority.Sigh!
Others beside myself, favour the MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) system. It’s easy. You vote twice. Once for the party and once from a list of representatives for the dude or dudette who the elector thinks is the best choice.
Personally, I do not believe that these two so-called democracies can be fixed. The ice is not waiting.
I am more optimistic. The weakness in nearly all our systems is that a two party monopoly is virtually guaranteed. This makes it easy for money to dominate both since challenges to them are next to impossible. It also creates another lose-lose situation where one party is bat shit crazy. The other is safe and so tends to become increasingly corrupt since voting for lunatics is the only option. This is the problem in places like Chicago today.
Under current rules, if a third party initially amounts to anything, they are usually built around personalities, and wither away as that person fades. Ranked choice removes the inbuilt advantage to a two party system because no one can be a spoiler. Viable alternatives can have a chance to beat both major parties and at least force candidates to address their issues.
Ending districts for legislatures would also be good, but for Americans at this point that is a step too far.