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We all hear, so many times that the notion of liberty and democracy are essential to the idea of the United States of America. Indeed, the USA is a nation but we must never forget that it is also an idea. For over two hundred years, our constitution has been the foundation of an idea that continues to mature and evolve. The path of maturity and evolution has not been a straight trajectory. In fact, we’ve witnessed, especially since November of 2000, democracy and liberty contract here in these United States. In the most recent Elway Poll, 56 percent of the voters interviewed said they felt like an "outsider" when it comes to state government and politics, and 42 percent said they are represented "not well" or "not at all" in state government. So why do so many Washington Voters feel unrepresented? The fact is; they are not represented!!! Single seat, winner-takes-all elections make losers out of too many voters. How do we stand united when a candidate winning just 50.1% of the vote gets to represent 100% of the district or state? In a three-way race the winner doesn’t even need a majority of the vote to win. The people who voted for the losing candidate receive the bitter pill that they will not have representation. They will not have representation and still pay taxes. Voters sense this, and so often do not vote for a candidate they like, but rather the one who realistically stands the best chance of winning –you know- the "lesser of two evils." Or, all too often, people don't vote at all. No wonder the United States lags far, far behind the modern democracies of the world in voter participation. Conventional political wisdom refers to the majority of our states legislative districts as either Republican or Democrat. You know, they’ll say a Seattle district is Democrat or an Eastside district is Republican. So there are no Republicans in Seattle? There are no Democrats in Bellevue? What about Greens or Libertarians? A report published by our Secretary of States office a couple of years ago states that the majority of Washington voters consider themselves independent. The Secretary’s report is an honest revelation of what the conventional wisdom ignores; our states legislative districts are inhabited by citizens who are subject to the laws and taxes imposed by our government. It should not be assumed that they belong to any private political party. Yet somehow, there are those who feel we are all the subjects of either the Democratic or Republican parties. Washington State Republican Party chairman Chris Vance told the Seattle Times last Wednesday that, “in incredibly close races, like Slade Gordon’s, the Libertarian factor is damaging to us." Remember the last presidential election when some people told voters not to throw away their votes on Ralph Nader and to vote for Al Gore? I believe this kind of rationale is nothing less than admitting that the voting booth is a garbage can. What a shame that in the United States of America some voters are considered nothing less than a liability. It gets worse, some people see the whole “spoiler vote” phenomenon as an opportunity. Please recall last year in South King County when a Republican Party operative went as far as to recruit Green Party activists to run for office. I believe we can only expect these inequities and indignities from an electoral system with the name of, Winner-Take-All. How does one reconcile the surge of patriotism in our nation with the fact that so many of our citizens refuse to participate in our democracy? The voter turnout in the California primary last week was less than 35%. Have you noticed the paraphernalia of patriotism pile up on t-shirt racks and check stands, reduced in price for quick sale? Unlike stacks of merchandise we cannot discount our principles. We have talked the talk and now we’ve got to walk the walk. Democracy cannot unite us within our current electoral system. The, single seat, winner- take-all model of democracy divides us. Too many are left out in the dark. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the time has come to perform our duty as Americans and hold up the bright light of democracy. We’ve got to build an inclusive democracy. The way we can do this is by using proportional representation electoral models. We need to consider Instant Runoff Voting to elect our leaders. We need to consider creating multi-member districts where seats are won proportionally. As a result of the 2000 census, our state has just been redistricted. There are nine US House districts, and forty-nine state legislative districts. Why can’t we have nine districts for the State House of representatives? Each district could elect 11 representatives. That would increase the number of House members to 99. That’s only a one seat increase. Each of the nine congressional districts have around 650,000 people. The threshold for representation from a district would be around ten percent. For example, with about 300,000 people voting in a district, a party would need to get about 30,000 votes for representation. This means Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens or independents could run candidates and win election and political voice and power in Olympia. A way to proportionally elect candidates in multi-member districts is to use Party List ballots. With this method, you don’t vote for a candidate as much as you vote for a party. Each party publishes a party-list for that district or state with the names of its members running for office. The top of the ticket is that parties standard bearer thus they will be the most visible in the election. Subsequent names are listed in order of potential succession. Depending on the proportion of seats won, according to an allocation formula, in an 11-seat district, a party that pulls in forty percent of the vote wins four seats and the top four names on the list get elected. Another party that wins 50% wins five seats. Multi member districts are good for Republicans, they’re good for Democrats. They certainly can be good for Libertarians, Greens and other parties that are on the outside of the political establishment. Most importantly, multi member districts are good for voters. A visit to the Secretary of State website will show you how unrepresented too many voters are. Never mind the one candidate who lost. Looking at election results for our State House, one can see tens of thousands of voters in each race within the loser column. We’re talking about an electoral system that makes hundreds of thousands of voters losers. The idea I’m proposing can work very nicely in our State House. Where our current system makes losers out of too many hard working Washingtonians, proportionally elected, multi member districts can make most voters winners. Another model of inclusive election reform is Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV. IRV can work very nicely with our 49 single member State Senate seats and statewide executive offices. With IRV, you vote for candidates in order of preference. Say, in a field of four candidates, you mark the ballot with a first choice, second, third and fourth. As with any ballot you can choose not to vote for a candidate or candidates. If a candidate wins the majority of first choice votes, the election is over. If not, the instant runoff goes into effect and, in a nutshell, the candidate with the most first and second choices wins the elections. Some people ask if this method violates the principle of one-person one vote? Primary elections are a process of elimination (no pun intended). I’ve voted for a different candidate in the primary than in the general before. That was effectively, two votes in the same election. What IRV does is fold the primary into the general. IRV makes campaigns less expensive because a candidate doesn’t have to effectively run two campaigns. Mud slinging is reduced because candidates not only compete for first choice votes; they go after second choice votes too. San Francisco voters have just approved IRV for their municipal elections. Australia, Ireland and the city of London use IRV. It is proven and it works.
An inclusive democracy shines brightest. It not only sheds light on so many good ideas that are left out in the darkness of our current system, it illuminates afar, offering hope to those who have no voice at all. We must hold up the bright light of democracy for all to see. If we have the vision, it can shine afar to make Washington State a national model of inclusive and fair elections. In closing, I hope that I have made the case today for a more inclusive democracy, and I hope that in the process, I have made the case for a stronger America. Thank you, Krist Novoselic |
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