No No No,

I don't care whether you'd be for or against the recall; or if it happened, who you'd vote for be it Swartzeneggar ("I'm champion for de vimmen"), Bustamante (cool name for a possible back-stabber), Flynt, Coleman, etc.

Naw.

I propose that every ballot has 3 things:

(1) list of candidates you'd choose--or in some cases write-in
(2) whether you support traditional or supplimentary elections
(3) in the later, whether it would be run-off or affirmation

In (1), tabulation will be typical.
In (2), if people support "Traditional," then candidate who wins plurality is elected. Hence, if Arnie gets 30% only of the vote, but it's higher than anyone elses, he becomes guv'nor.

If people choose for "Supplimentary" elections, then Arnie must win a majority to become guv'nor. If he wins only a plurality, there will be a supplimentary election.

(3) If the choice for a supplimentary election was for run-off, then in 1 to 4 weeks after the election, another election will be held for the top two winners (eg Swartzeneggar and Bustamante). Whoever wins this election--and if it's only two facing each other, a plurality will be by definition a majority--will become guv'nor.

If the choice is for affirmation, then in 1 to 4 weeks of the election, the winner of the plurality will stand for affirmation/negation. If the vote is for affirmation, he/she becomes guv'nor.

If not, then another election will be held, with the 3 choices. If this fails to produce a guv'nor, then it will be held again, this time plurality winning.



The purpose of this poll would be to determine how you would vote.

The poll in part 1 of 2 would be whether you'd support a traditional tabulation--plurality wins, no matter how short of a majority, or would you choose the supplimentary election in the event of a non-majority plurality.

The poll in part 2 of 2 would be whether you support a run-off, or affirmation.

You may choose to vote in any of these three selections of the ballot--i.e. not voting in one will not invalidate your vote in the other.

GS, do you write IRS forms in your spare time? :wink:

After watching the festivities south of the border, I'm beginning to think a tall wall through the Siskiyous might not be a bad idea.

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

Sorry Mike about the mess. I would have written something a bit clearer, but it was only several days from the election.

No sweat. Your question is a good one that doesn't often come up in US elections because of the usual 2-party (hence 2-candidate) system.

I would prefer a run-off which could produce a majority winner, not just plurality.

Did I make the vote thing work? Sorry if not.

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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.

In Texas we have runoffs if one candidate doesn’t receive a majority in the general election. This holds for state and congressional offices. Third party candidates have a lower chance of ultimately splitting the vote because the runoff has only two candidates. At that point the candidate of the top two that has the more dedicated supporters usually wins. As in all states, when selecting electors for the Electoral College that selects the president, plurality wins all.

One problem with the instant runoff type of elections, where voters make a first and second choice is that the ballots can get very long. In Texas, we are very democratic about our government and vote for practically every office. The ballot for judges in the more populace counties is quite long and sometimes has a third party candidate. Long ballots deter voters from going down the list, and the instant runoff system will worsen that tendency in certain election years.

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Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the Sun.

Astronot, what if a Texan simply ticks his/her choices in certain choices and ignores the rest--let's say, he/she ticked his/her choice for Pres, senator, rep, gov, state sen, state rep, and mayor; and ignore the rest?

Would his/her vote be invalidated?