The May 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” series (see below for info about watching it through your computer or TCTV channel 22) promotes an increasingly popular reform to satisfy voters and improve our elections.
To watch the interview, CLICK THIS LINK.
To read a thorough summary of what we said in the interview and see links for more information, CLICK THIS LINK.
HERE IS A VERY BRIEF SUMMARY:
Everybody knows that our nation’s electoral system is broken in many ways. The problems prevent us from having an honest, vibrant democracy. But a number of remedies do exist. The May 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” focuses on one exciting, practical remedy – Ranked-Choice Voting – that would strengthen democracy in several ways.
Our current voting method frustrates people who would like to vote for the candidate they really want, but they are afraid of “wasting their vote” or the “spoiler” effect, where voters split between two decent candidates and a really bad candidate emerges as the winner with less than half of the vote. People feel frustrated when they are afraid to vote for the candidate they really want and feel forced to vote for a less desirable candidate who was “electable,” or for “the lesser of two evils.”
Ranked-Choice Voting would solve these problems. It would eliminate the primary election and simply let voters rank the candidates in order of preference. If your first-choice candidate does not win, the votes of people who ranked that candidate first would be transferred to those voter’s second-choice candidate. The process might need to repeat again and perhaps again until one candidate ends up with a majority of votes.
Two guests explain clearly how Ranked-Choice Voting works and how it can strengthen democracy:
• Lisa Ayrault is a very active volunteer with FairVote Washington (www.fairvotewa.org). Currently she is the organization’s chair who performs the duties of an Executive Director.
• Michael Martin is FairVote Washington’s Legislative Director. He works with the State Legislature to bring Ranked Choice Voting to Washington State. Also, Michael is a leader in the Clark County group – one of a growing number of chapters of FairVote Washington.
Throughout the nation, more people – and more local and state governments – are reforming their elections in this way.
Watch Powerfully Insightful and Important TV Programs
Through Your Computer or on TCTV
Everyone everywhere can watch this interview – and/or read a thorough summary of what we said (and a great list of links to further information) – through Glen’s blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org. Each program and thorough summary are also posted to the blog’s “TV Programs” category and one or more additional categories (in this case, the blog’s “Democracy, Electoral Reforms, Voting Rights” category).
Cable TV subscribers in Thurston County can watch this interview on Thurston Community Television (TCTV) three times a week throughout the entire month: every Monday at 1:30 pm, every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and every Thursday at 9:00 pm.
After I produced this TV program and posted it to my blog, my e-mail address changed from glenanderson@integra.net to glen@parallaxperspectives.org. When you watch the TV video and/or read the linked document, please use my new e-mail address (and/or phone me at 360-491-9093) if you have any questions or want more information.
