The Independent View: Ranked-Choice Voting and Sore-Loser Rule

One of the most Promising Change in the Electoral Process is Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV), sometimes called “the Instant Runoff.” Imagine that Arizona’s Voters had serious Options beyond a Democrat and a Republican, and that instead of Voting for a single Senate Candidate, they could Rank Candidates in the General Election.

Voters could rank their Choices one, two, three, and so on. Under RCV, if no Candidate gets a Majority of First Place Votes, the Candidate with the Lowest Number of Votes is Eliminated, and His or Her Votes are Redistributed to Voters’ Second Choices. The Process continues until someone gets a Majority or a Final-Round Plurality.

RCV has the potential to Lower the Temperature of Political Polarization, by enabling Voters to Opt for an Independent or Third-Party Candidate without the Fear that in doing so they will “Waste” their Vote and thus help Elect the Candidate they Dislike the Most. And Candidates would have to sway a larger Constituency to receive their Votes across the Rankings.

What if Arizona had RCV? Flake could have made his Clarion Call on the Senate Floor and then announced that he was Running as an Independent.

Corker could have done the same in Tennessee.

Under RCV, each might have had a decent chance of Winning.

In Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski did, just barely, Win Re-Election as an Independent in the 2010 General Election after Losing the Republican Primary to a Tea Party Candidate. But she had to mount a Heroic and Improbable Write-In Campaign because of the State's “Sore Loser” Rule.

In 45 States, this Rule, Prevents a Candidate from getting on the Ballot in the General Election if He or She Loses a (Party) Primary.

If States also moved to Eliminate this Undemocratic Rule, Candidates, even Incumbents, could Wage a Principled Campaign in Defense of Moderation in the Primary, and if they Lose, come back to Run in the General Election as an Independent.

Joe Lieberman did this in Connecticut after Losing the Democratic Primary in 2006, and he Won as an Independent, because Connecticut is one of the few States without a Sore Loser Rule.