Tacoma’s daily newspaper, The News Tribune, has this editorial, expressing the point of view that top-two systems are faulty because they leave so few choices in the general election. The News Tribune is one of the oldest daily newspapers in Washington state, and has been a daily since 1883 under various names.
Washington State political scientist Todd Donovan has this recent paper where his research shows the effects of Top Two are rather limited. https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/cjpp.2012.4.issue-1/1944-4370.1196/1944-4370.1196.xml
He states the partisan structure of the legislature appears unaltered.
I look at at some roll call votes when examining Washington’s six bi-partisan State House delegations. The Democrats voted an almost flush YEA with the Republicans voting NAY about half the time. Democratic legislation is dominating the House floor.
In the Senate, three members of the “Roadkill Caucus” voted for the Republican budget. This resulted in a one month extended session. The Roadkill Caucus are centrist Democrats and their name is an expression of them feeling “run over” by the liberal legislation offered by their party.
For any unaware folks —
Again – a legislative body exists ONLY because ALL of the Electors- Voters can NOT appear in person and vote on proposed legislation (bills).
P.R. in ALL legislative bodies before it is too late.
Total Votes / Total Seats = EQUAL votes required for each seat winner.
Both majority rule and minority representation.
REAL Democracy stuff AIN’T atomic physics.
It seems to me like almost nobody likes top two.
#3 — The top 2 MORONS have a fixation with majority rule in each separate gerrymander district area.
They (and the media and the super-MORON courts) are too EVIL stupid to detect in their MORON brains that —
1/2 votes x 1/2 districts = 1/4 CONTROL.
Save Democracy via P.R. — # 2 above.
The race the Democrats cite was a district that was tailor-made for the special interests who favor partisan primaries – and really says more about the ineffectiveness of Washington’s campaign reporting laws. PACs associated with trial lawyers and labor unions, funded campaign mailers for the Republican candidate, telling likely Republican voters that the senator favored by Democrat party was not really so moderate, and they should vote for the true conservative. They funneled this through a couple of PACs and timed the contributions so they would show up after reporting deadlines. The campaign was actually funded by a Democrat campaign management firm, who expected to get paid with the delayed and misdirected contributions. When the scandal was discovered, the contributions were pulled back, and the campaign management firm ended up eating the costs of the campaign.
Had it been a conventional partisan primary, they would just have directed their campaign towards voters in the primary, particularly those who would listen to endorsement of their union. This is why the major opponents of Proposition 14 in California were the public sector unions.
#1 Now I know it’s the Grange that offers the best ideas on political reform. I was thinking that organizations like Fairvote would set voters straight on the relative amount of injustice that our political system at large serves up to third/alternative parties.
The idea that the top two candidate winnow system is basically comparable in its overall performance vis a vis the voter to that of the previous arrangement is a big pill to swallow only if one is minor partisan, but that’s okay?
If I were the chair of the board of Fairvote I would articulate at length on the matter of voter choice, let that be my light. I’d wallpaper my room with the Libertarian writ on the matter.
The darkness of this top two system, the practical abolition of alternative candidacies, the frustration voters do and will have attempting to discover the actual partisan sensibilities that alays exist in the political realm. Voters won’t see the efforts to conduct the real but unofficial partisan (money) primaries that aim to have one in the field instead of splitting the vote. A century ago primary elections were invented to escape this.
Some in this state–right now–are disturbed a celebrity with the ability to attract votes from both a major party base and independents and many casual rarely voters might pick a congressional district and run. The top two is especially friendly to this as snagging a second place primary result among many non-famous is so doable.
If I were famous, I’d run for Lietenant Governor when the incumbent is through with it. Oh, I’d wanna be rich too so I could self finance and run up the vote as well.
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#6 Every single 3rd party candidate for the Washington legislature under the last Pick-A-Party primary system in 2006 has posted to BAN. 100%.