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Jul 6, 2022Liked by Steven Hill

It's not clear to me what the actual recommendation is here. RCV in party primaries will solve the minority winner problem in states that don't have run offs, and maybe modestly improve turnout in states that do. But with RCV there is no need for a party primary at all. Having one single election for each race would dramatically improve turnout in the determinant election.

Turnout in primaries has not improved in Maine (RCV), California (Top 2), or Washington (Top 2), to my knowledge.

But if we are to have fair choice in elections we need the same rules for ballot access and filing deadlines regardless of the party name--something that is not found in any US state at the moment (but is the norm in virtually all other democracies).

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"In Ohio, for example, J.D. Vance will be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate after winning just 32 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate race. In other words, he’s the party’s pick even though some 68 percent of Republicans preferred a different candidate."

The goal of a partisan primary should be to select the candidate with the broadest support. Such candidate will have the best chance of defeating other party's candidates. RCV accomplishes the goal.

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