It’s vicious out here

It is just taken as fact that politics is nasty in this day and age. This is truly on display in the aftermath of the recent Republican primary election for Georgia governor. According to recent reporting by the AJC, President Trump is trying to broker a truce between Republican gubernatorial candidates Rick Jackson and Burt Jones in order to consolidate the base ahead of the November general election.

Like fish, we don’t realize the gross, muddy water we currently swim in. We don’t realize the clearer water we could inhabit.

Let me explain.

This past Republican primary election for governor was so brutal that second-place Burt Jones is refusing to endorse winner Rick Jackson. Jones is quoted saying “He spent $150 million trashing me and my family.” There are accusations and multi-million dollar lawsuits flying both directions.

This fighting works against the Republicans trying to win the general election in November. But every time, candidates feel forced to engage in this ugly fighting just to clear the primary. It’s either play nice and lose, or play dirty and win.

The Answer

With one change to Georgia’s election system, we could remove these bad incentives – all while keeping majority rule.

The answer is ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting asks voters to rank their candidates in order of preference (instead of choosing just one). With this upgrade, the incentives for candidates shift from “The other guy is the devil” to “If I’m not your first choice, let me be your second.”

Additionally, ranked choice voting replaces the four extra runoff weeks of the nastiest head to head campaigning with an instant runoff. With ranked choice ballots, we have voters’ full ranking of preferences. No need for a runoff to ask voters “Since your first choice of Raffensperger or Carr didn’t win, who is your second choice?”

Under the current system, slinging insults and lawsuits may fire up your base, but it turns off the voter sitting on the fence still deciding who to vote for. As a candidate under ranked choice voting , you can still speak to your base, but you can also win over persuadable voters by highlighting similarities, not only differences. “If I’m not your first choice, let me be your second.”

This last Republican primary for governor is just the latest example where ranked choice voting could cool down our politics and help broaden coalitions instead of tearing us apart.

If you want to learn more about ranked choice voting, visit our About page.