Democracy:

Strengthening Democratic Participation

The winner-take-all system, while simple, often alienates voters who feel that they are unable to vote for the candidates and views they truly support. Two common alternative voting sytems suggested for solving this problem are proportional representation and instant runoff voting. The Center for Voting and Democracy provides information on both of these voting systems:

Proportional Representation (PR)

"Nearly all elections in the United States are based on the winner-take-all principle: voters for the candidate who receives the most votes win representation; voters for the other candidates win nothing. This system is unjust and unnecessary. It is unjust because it leaves minorities unrepresented with a resulting impact on majority rule as well as fair representation. It is unnecessary because we have immediate opportunities, at local, state, and national levels, to join the vast majority of mature democracies that have already adopted systems of proportional representation.

Proportional representation (PR) is based on the principle that any group of like-minded voters should win legislative seats in proportion to its share of the popular vote. Whereas the winner-take-all principle awards 100% of the representation to a 50.1% majority, PR allows voters in a minority to win their fair share of representation. There is a broad range of PR systems. Some are based on voting for political parties; others for candidates. Some allow very small groupings of voters to win seats; others require higher thresholds of support to win representation. All promote more accurate, balanced representation of the spectrum of political opinion in a given electorate."

(Center for Voting and Democracy) [source]

For more information on this and other related issues, visit Center for Voting and Democracy on the Internet.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)

"Instant runoff voting (IRV) corrects the defects in plurality elections and two-round runoff elections, the two most widely used voting systems in the country. Major efforts to replace plurality election laws with this more democratic alternative are underway in Alaska, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington, and California. Campaigns to replace traditional two-round runoff elections are taking place at a local level in Austin (TX), Oakland (CA), San Francisco (CA), Eugene (OR) and and many other cities and counties.

Instant runoff voting allows for better voter choice and wider voter participation by accommodating multiple candidates in single seat races and assuring that a "spoiler"-effect will not result in undemocratic outcomes. Instant runoff voting allows all voters to vote for their favorite candidate without fear of helping elect their least favorite candidate, and it ensures that the winner enjoys true support from a majority of the voters. Plurality voting, used in most American elections, does not meet these basic requirements for a fair election system that promotes wide participation, and traditional runoff elections are costly to the taxpayer and often suffer from low voter turnout."

- Center for Voting and Democracy [source]

For more information on this and other related issues, visit Center for Voting and Democracy on the Internet.