IRELAND HAS THE BEST ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN THE WORLD. WHY DON'T WE?
In Ireland, the President is elected by a process known as Instant Runoff, where voters rank their choices. The Winner must be supported by a majority.
The legislative body is elected by a ranking system called Single Transferable Vote or “Choice.” Every voter’s vote has the maximum impact. Countries using Single Transferable Vote have the highest turnout in the world.
Do you believe our current Minnesota political leadership, with its inability to compromise, is fully representative of the people?
Wouldn’t a process where all people were represented and where the majority did rule be able to find more common ground?
Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, who was defeated in her bid for re-election, sabotaged attempts to bring Irish style voting processes to cities and school districts in Minnesota. She created barriers to voting equipment upgrades which would make ranked voting processes more available.
She was joined in back door lobbying efforts by the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), a Minnesota organization that lobbies for pro-life issues. [Their website contains claims that votes for ranked voting are a "pro-life loss." Senate Votes 3 and 4. ] Strange, since the two most pro-life nations in the Western world, Ireland and Malta, use instant runoff voting for their elections.
Review this website to learn more about Irish style voting and how certain political agendas are preventing us from even trying ranked voting on a local level.
Please understand. No political system can turn us all into angels or eliminate all conflict. Irish politics has and will always have unpleasant moments. But the Irish system improves upon others in the areas of accountability, stability, deliberation, and turnout. It should be tried in more places.
We could even improve on the Irish system by permitting voters to simplify the process of ranking. A voter could choose to work from a party recommended slate and make such modifications as the voter desires. Then voters can make voting as simple or individualized as they want voting to be.
Learn more about Irish Voting.
Learn more about the Minneapolis campaign to bring Irish style voting to city elections.