State Libertarians Like RCV

The Libertarian Party of Washington held its annual convention yesterday in Tacoma. After the convention passed a resolution endorsing Ranked Choice Voting as superior to the top 2, State Chair Scott Lindsley issued this statement:

Election Law and Libertarians

Tacoma - The Libertarian Party of Washington State prefers the Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) election system being used in Pierce County starting this year to either the pick-a-party primary system or the top-2 system. RCV provides voters with more choices in November, the election which counts. RCV allows voters to more completely express their opinions about candidates.

In November, Pierce County voters will have county level races with more than two candidates on the ballot. No other voters in the state will have this choice. For the County Executive race, there will be two Democrats, one Republican and one independent, at least, on the November ballot. For one of the County Council races, there will be two Democrats and one Republican. The Libertarian Party is recruiting candidates to join these races. Plus there is still the possibility for more independents joining the races.

In the RCV races, voters will be allowed to mark their first choice, second choice and third choice in each race. This allows voters to more fully express their opinions about the candidate set. No more wasted votes. More choices. Less voting for the lesser of two evils.

The top 2 system in place for the other elections around the state will limit choice in November. In 2000, there were 60 Libertarians on the November ballot around the state. This multitude of candidates enriched the debate. The top 2 discourages this debate.

The top 2 system encourages negative campaigning in November. The top 2 system will result in voters doing calculations about how to defeat the biggest evil, not maximizing the probability of the best candidate winning. The top 2 system will not be good for voters.

The Libertarian Party has consistently looked for ways to improve the political process and the election system here in the state of Washington. The Libertarian Party believes that RCV is superior for voters to the top 2 system and to the pick-a-party primary. The voters deserve better than the top 2 or the pick-a-party primary. The voters deserve RCV.