[EM] California's adoption of Runoff

[Michael Ossipoff]

I don't know if this was sent to the right address, and so I'm sending
it again. My apologies if it posts twice:

California has made an astounding, bold experiment. They've taken away
the official status of parties in California's state and congressional
elections. State-sponsored party primaries don't make any sense. All
of the political parties opposed Runoff, because it takes away their
official status.

Additionally, the fact that the California voters have adopted a new
voting system for state and congressional elections is important for
its own sake. It shows that people are open to change in the voting
system. People everywhere will be a little more receptive now, to
proposals for new voting systems. Change has been shown to be possible
and feasible.

I'm not saying that Runoff is any good. So what?--Neither is Plurality.

The small parties object that their ballot status was the only thing
keeping them visible. Yeah, but where did it ever get them? One
percent?

With the media's help, of course the Republocrats can probably
continue to dominate in Runoff. I suppose progressives will still feel
a need to vote Democrat, so that the Democrat candidates won't be shut
out of the runoff.  So, in that way, nothing will change. But now the
Democrats will find out what the split-vote problem is like. Beautiful
! The Democrats will be divided something like the way the
progressives have been.Their best vote totals might no longer exceed
those of the non-Republocrats by as much as they have been.

In something as stagnant as our politics here, any shuffle or
shake-up, such as California's new Runoff system, is a good thing. All
the more so, because it encourages more change, and gives precedent,
respectability and plausibility to change proposals.

Mike Ossipoff