By Armin Samii
Once again, Pennsylvania may be an extremely swing state. But no matter how divided they are, there is something we should agree on: The winner of our electoral votes should have the support of at least 50% of Pennsylvanians.
There is nothing more American than majority rule. However, in the last two presidential elections, Joe Biden and Donald Trump won the Keystone State without a majority. Less than 85,000 votes separated Democratic and Republican candidates in 2016 and 2020, while third-party candidates like Jill Stein and Gary Johnson won hundreds of thousands of votes.
They are tied in the polls with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump Herehistory will likely repeat itself this November.
It’s time to fix it. Ranked voting guarantees majority winners and solves the spoiler problem once and for all.
According to the latest survey, 3% of Pennsylvania voters say they plan to vote for someone other than Harris and Trump in November – including a Libertarian Chase Oliver AND Jill Stein Green Party. This may not seem like much, but with a statistical tie in the race, it could make a difference.
Of course, some of these voters may “go home” and end up voting for Harris or Trump – upset about the effects of actually voting for a third-party candidate and playing spoiler. No voter wants to lend a hand elect the candidate they like least.
But voters shouldn’t be afraid to vote for the person they like the most. Ranked voting it’s an elegant solution – for both voters AND parties – this gives voters more choice, no less. Alaska and Maine already exploit RCV during presidential elections. Pennsylvania should follow suit.
RCV is simple. In everyday life, we evaluate things all the time. We should have the same power at the ballot box. In RCV elections, voters can rank candidates in order of preference – first, second, etc. If a candidate wins a majority of first elections, he or she wins. If not, the race goes to immediate overtime. If a voter’s favorite candidate has no chance of winning, that candidate is eliminated and his or her vote counts toward an alternate candidate.
Imagine how different the current presidential campaign would be if we used RCV.
Jill Stein supporters could put her first, followed by Trump or Harris as their backup choice. If Stein finished last but prevented Harris or Trump from winning a majority of the votes, Stein would be eliminated. The votes of her supporters would immediately count in the selection of a replacement. (The same goes for Oliver’s voters.)
Voters who are not thrilled with Harris or Trump can support their favorite candidate without fear of helping their least favorite candidate win. No more “spoiler effect”. Instead of trying to throw Stein, Oliver and others off the ballot, both parties would appeal for the votes of their supporters.
RCV is already used in local, state or federal elections in 50 towns throughout the country and is subject to voting in four more states in November.
But it’s swing states like Pennsylvania where this kind of modernization could have the biggest impact. For better or worse, current presidential races now come down to a shockingly petite number of votes in a handful of states. We are lucky to be one of these key countries, but with great power comes great responsibility.
IN 2016Trump won Pennsylvania by less than 1% of the vote; Biden won the state by less than 2%. 2020. If Pennsylvania continues to come down to a few votes in our presidential elections, is it too much to ask that our state’s electoral votes go to someone who is actually supported by a majority of Pennsylvanians?
Choosing the next president of the United States may be up to us. We should ensure that the winner represents all of us.
Armin Samii is a supporter of ranked choice voting (RCV) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the founder of RCVis and volunteers in Harrisburg in March to bring RCV to Pennsylvania.
