The Need for Run-off Elections.

*** This article was submitted, just as it appears here, to the Courier Post for its Sunday "Rabble Rouser" column. It was printed by them in an "edited" form on July 2, 2006.


Most of my liberal friends bristle at the very mention of Ralph Nader. One friend recently stated that he would vote for serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer if the Democrats ran him, rather than an Independent. In a moment of political passion he was serious.

If Nader had not run for office, these same people would probably admire him. Most agree that politicians from both major parties have been corrupted by campaign money from corporations and special interests, which is Nader’s major theme. However this piece is not about Nader per se. Rather, it is about an electoral system which strangles all Independent efforts and in doing so diminishes Democracy itself. And it is about the simple and obvious solution to the “spoiler” problem which neither major party wants to talk about.

In America today many people despise the very Independents and Third Party candidates with whom they most agree on the issues, due entirely to the candidates’ perceived ability to “spoil” elections. We are very conscious of the “spoiler effect”. It has become ingrained into our political system. It is the thing that restricts America to the so-called two-party system, by guaranteeing that Independents and Third Parties can not get a foothold.

Our two-party system is really a one-choice system as it relates to a given voter. If you fear the Republicans or just strongly reject them on principle then you must vote Democrat, regardless of how lousy the specific candidate’s record or character, regardless of how far the party has drifted from its traditional ideology, regardless of a well-publicized “boss” system in the case of New Jersey politics, and regardless of the Democrats fast-tracking the path for developers while thumbing their noses at environmentalists and ignoring the property tax crises. You must vote for the Democrats to prevent “spoiling”. The Democrats know it. And because they are virtually guaranteed of being reelected in most of the Blue States they have no reason to change a thing.

They own you, or at least your vote. Just as the Republicans own those voters who hate and fear liberals. And the two parties are united in their effort to crush Independents, so that each can retain the loyalty of its respective voter base without having to earn that loyalty.

There is a very obvious solution to the problem of “spoiling” which the major parties will not discuss. It is runoff elections. The “spoiler effect” hinges entirely on the fact that elections can be won without a majority. A vote for Nader could not be construed as a vote for Bush if there were to be a runoff between the top 2 vote-getters anywhere no one got a majority.

Imagine that a candidate needed a majority to win, that runoff elections were the norm, just as if we lived in a “true” Democracy. One could vote for Third Parties and Independents without in any way helping the Republicans’ chances. One could express one’s real opinion via one’s vote, rather than issuing the Democrats a “blank check”.

Independents and Third Parties would get far more votes if the “spoiler effect” were eliminated. And good people would be far more willing to run. The New Jersey Democrats would actually face competition at the polls. And competition is precisely what is needed to force them to clean up their act.

When your elected officials tell you that runoff elections are too expensive or too time consuming, remember that they are enjoying the gravy train which results from no competition. Consider the price we are paying for Not having runoffs. Not just in the cost of pay-to-play government, developer subsidies and corporate welfare, but in the loss of real choices and real Democracy.

There are ways to make runoffs cheaper and easier, such as “Instant Runoff Voting”. Runoffs are vital to a Democracy regardless. Our current election laws allow both major parties to ignore their respective voter bases and concentrate on serving their big campaign contributors. We in the Blue States are bent on perpetuating the reign of a group of corporate-bought and corporate-serving politicians, solely out of the fear of an even worse group. Ideology is a distant memory. “Lesser-evilism” has taken over.

Please demand that your state legislators fix this no-win situation by enacting runoff elections. Ironically if you are committed to preventing “spoiling” by blindly pulling that Democratic lever then you will have zero influence on them, in regards to this or any other issue. Your vote is your only bargaining chip.


Charles Woodrow
Barnsboro, NJ