Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by takyon on Wednesday November 07 2018, @12:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the do-the-wave dept.

United States elections, 2018

Maine's ranked-choice voting will be used in a federal general election for the first time, after previously using it in the primary system.

Live coverage at FiveThirtyEight, CNN, NBC, WSJ, Fox, CBSN (video), and Ballotpedia.

2018 Ballot measures

Update: Democrats have taken the House of Representatives, while Republicans have retained control of the Senate.

Georgia's Brian Kemp Opens 'Cyber Crimes' Investigation Into State Democrats, 2 Days Before Election

Georgia Secretary of State and Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp opened an investigation into the state's Democratic Party Sunday, alleging a failed attempt to hack the Georgia voter registration system.

Previously: Exact Match Requirements Eased in Georgia Ahead of Midterms


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday November 07 2018, @01:15AM (6 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday November 07 2018, @01:15AM (#758775)

    If more than 50% of voters bothered to explicitly reject all the people on the ballot, you have grounds for organizing a new election with new candidates.
    That would be democratic.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Insightful=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 07 2018, @05:39AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 07 2018, @05:39AM (#758847)

    So the incumbent doesn't have to actually win re-election, just get enough people disgusted with the whole process.

    • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday November 07 2018, @04:16PM (4 children)

      by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday November 07 2018, @04:16PM (#759019)

      Wouldn't the incumbent be one of the people on the ballot? In which case if >50% None of the Above, he's barred from running same as the rest.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday November 07 2018, @04:55PM (3 children)

        by urza9814 (3954) on Wednesday November 07 2018, @04:55PM (#759039) Journal

        Who holds the office while the new election is organized? You've gotta get all new candidates, they've gotta have time to run a campaign, then you have to have the actual election. Meanwhile, the incumbent probably stays in power even if everyone friggin' despises them.

        And what happens if people vote "none of the above" repeatedly? Do we start to ignore term limits and let the incumbent stick around indefinitely? Or do we create some process to install someone else without that person being elected?

        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday November 07 2018, @06:13PM (2 children)

          by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday November 07 2018, @06:13PM (#759073)

          Oh. Yeah, good points.

          I mean the entire idea is a bit infeasible because people are still going to be locked into the 2-party system enough that you're never going to get a 50% "fuck them all" vote. A plurality, maybe, but I can't imagine a majority until the system gets a lot worse.

          Other than that, I do like the idea.

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
          • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday November 07 2018, @06:29PM (1 child)

            by urza9814 (3954) on Wednesday November 07 2018, @06:29PM (#759079) Journal

            Yeah actually I'm quite fond of the idea as well...it just needs a bit more work :)

            Ranked choice is probably the best realistic proposal though -- but only if the counts are reported the right way. By which I mean that if 20% of people vote for [third party], then those votes won't count and their second or third choice will be used instead. But it should still be reported that 20% voted for that party. That encourages more people to do so the next time around, and it also encourages the rest of the politicians to try to adapt some of [third party]'s policies so they can win some of those votes next time. But if they eliminate all the minor choices and then just report the end percentages for the two major parties, then that's potentially worse than the existing system because it keeps dissent hidden.

            • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday November 07 2018, @06:41PM

              by urza9814 (3954) on Wednesday November 07 2018, @06:41PM (#759088) Journal

              Going back to the "none of the above" idea...actually in a lot of situations you probably *could* just leave the position vacant until a new election is held. We probably don't want to go six months without a national President, but plenty of towns have survived longer than that without a mayor. And plenty more have elected dogs and cats and other animals which is more or less the same thing. Maybe you just say the post is vacant and none of its responsibilities will be filled until the people successfully elect someone.

              Basically, just make "Leave the office vacant" a legitimate choice. If the voters can't see why the position is necessary, then maybe it isn't. That plus ranked choice sounds pretty nice...your ballot could then essentially say: "My first choice is candidate A; if they don't win I'd be happy with candidate B; if neither of those win I'd prefer to just leave the damn position vacant; but if we really must burn it all down then candidate C might make that marginally less painful than candidate D."