[EM] No, you are not a Spoiler:

[I Like Irving]

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No, you are not a Spoiler:  by Donald Davison

Greetings,

     If you have ever voted for a third party candidate, do not allow
anyone to accuse you of being a spoiler.
     While there is a problem, you are not that problem.
     The candidate is not the problem.
     And, the third party is also not the problem.

     The two major parties are the problem.

     They are well aware that there is a better way to conduct elections,
and between them they have the power to make the changes, but they refuse
to take any action, even if it means that they will lose an elecion every
once in awhile, an election they would have won if they had only changed
the election system to the Irving method.  They are willing to bite their
own nose off in order to spite their face.

  W H O   I S   I R V I N G ?

   Irving is short for Instant Runoff Voting, a better voting system.  With
Irving, you rank the candidates 1-2-3 etc.  If one candidate has a majority
of top choices, that candidate is the winner.  But, if no candidate has a
majority then the lowest candidate is eliminated so we can have an instant
runoff.  If this lowest candidate happens to be your top choice, your
second choice becomes your new top choice.  In this way, your vote will
always be included when the majority does elect the winner.

    In other words, the voter has the right to change his vote in the event
his top choice loses.  This is the best solution to the spoiler charges,
instead of expecting everyone to vote for the same two candidates - only
the candidates of the two major parties.
     Put the monkey where it belongs, on the back of the two major
political parties.   Tell them to clean up their act and install Irving as
the method of electing single seat office holders.

The Problem per a National Review Article:

     "The Green Party nominee, Ralph Nader, arguably kept Al Gore out of
the White House, but hardly anybody has noticed how Libertarians have put
Republicans on the brink of losing the Senate.  In both 1998 and 2000, a
Republican candidate for Senate lost to a Democrat by a margin much less
than the Libertarian's total vote."
     Chuck Muth of the Republican Liberty Caucus said: "Libertarians need
to understand that they're nothing but spoilers, and Republicans need to
learn how to earn their votes."

A Temporary Solution:

    The long term solution is for the Republicans and the Democrats to work
to install Irving as the election method, but there is a temporary solution
that can be used in the meantime.  This temporary solution would work on a
election-by-election basis.
     That solution would be for the Republicans and the Libertarians and/or
the Reform Party to have joint Primaries for close races.  Candidates of
all three parties would be in one field of candidates.  Members of all
three parties would rank the candidates 1-2-3 etc, for an Irving election.
The candidate that ends up with a majority will be the Republican candidate
in the General election.  There will be no candidate running under the
Libertarian nor Reform banners for that same race, that would be part of
the deal.
     Somebody tell Chuck Muth that this is how the Republicans can earn the
Libertarian's votes.  Don't tell him that a Libertarian or Reform candidate
could possibly win the Republican nomination, that is also part of the
deal.

     The Democrat Party and the Green party could have the same arrangement.


Regards, Donald Davison

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The Kansas City Charter revisited:

     Four more possibilities for the Kansas City Council include keeping
the six districts, but have two members per district using one of the
following four election methods in each district.

     1) Choice Voting (STV):
     2) Instant Runoff Voting (IRV):
     3) One vote per person (SNTV):
     4) Two votes Cumulative Voting (CV):

     The top two candidates would be the winners in all four methods.
     You could even allow each district to select its own method.

Don,