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I believe it would be much more meaningful to have open primaries … and also allow for a candidate who wins the primary with more than 50% of the votes cast to win the general election.
I’d also wonder if a reduction of time between the primary and general election would be useful. Do we truly need six months of work to print ballots and prepare for an election?
Definitely agree with Joe B. to make voters vote for the individual actually running. I would also be in favor of open primaries as that would help to avoid producing only the more extreme candidates in the General. I think this would be an advantage to both parties — and to the public at large. While it may be argued that a primary is for the individual parties, it can also be argued that people not in those parties are paying taxes for their elections regardless. However, I’m unsure if I’d agree with Joe B’s thought about allowing a candidate winning more than 50% in the primary becoming the automatic General winner (if I understand the thought correctly).
Thanks, GB. I should have elaborated more on my thoughts.
My thought with the open primary is that the top two recipients of the vote (regardless of party) move on to the general election. Hence, whoever wins the election would be able to claim they had won support from the majority of voters. And, yes, you could see general elections where voters would choose between two Republicans or two Democrats if they’re the two highest vote getters in the primary.
Hence, if you’re able to demonstrate majority support in the primary … if more than 50% of voters already support you … why exactly do you need to do it again in the general election?
I think this is much more possible for being passed into law than something like ranked choice voting, which causes some people to lose their minds for no apparent reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonpartisan_primary
Lol. I agree with that. Ranked voting (while a great improvement for everyone) can come across as complicated.
I do see what you mean about the 50% threshold. In my mind, I imagine that there might be situations where a 51% win in the primary might not be the case in the General. But I admit I can’t think of such a situation yet.
Of course, truly fair elections like this are a mere dream here. Perhaps when there is a time when things are closer to 50/50 in the legislature (it will happen sometime again), neither party will feel they are losing something by going to this format.