Election reform

As a registered Libertarian, I am assaulted by young, liberal friends who tell me that if I vote for Gary Johnson, I’m voting for Donald Trump by not giving my support to Hillary Clinton.

And I’m told by my older, conservative friends that by not supporting Trump, I may as well vote for Clinton. Since both can’t be true, I’m left wondering why our elections are so dysfunctional, and why no one wants to talk about it.

We need massive election reform to revitalize our political discourse and flip elections on their heads. I suggest ranked-choice voting, which can be explored at fairvote.org. This would prevent a vote from ever being wasted, because staunch supporters of Green Party candidate Jill Stein, deathly terrified of Trump, could list Clinton as their reluctant second choice, to vote their conscience, but also still vote strategically.

Similarly, voters in the middle, antsy for an outsider and scared of Clinton and the establishment, could cast a shameless vote for Gary Johnson with Trump a reluctant second choice. As first choice losers are weeded out, ranked choice guarantees no winner without majority support. Can we talk about our elections now?

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Election reform."