Another Meeks third party campaign? *Now* it is time for Irish-style ranked ballots

The Reverend Senator James Meeks (I-Calumet City) is furious that Governor Blagojevich made another no-new-money-for-poor-schools pledge this month in a non-competitive Democratic primary election, and is seriously considering a third-party campaign for governor in order to get a higher-than-3% state income tax back on the table to give kids in poor schools a decent chance at life.

From Phil Kadner's column here:

"I'm exploring all my options," Meeks said. "A fellow legislator called to tell me that the United States is based on a two-party system, and I would be blowing apart that system if I created a third party.

"Well, that's how I got into the Senate in the first place, by blowing apart the two-party system."

and then

Meeks said some people have called him to suggest that a third-party campaign for governor would split the Democratic vote in November, paving the way for a Republican victory.

"You can look at it and say two Democrats would split the vote," Meeks said, "or you could look at it and say two white candidates would split the vote allowing the black candidate to win.

"That's the way I prefer to look at it."

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Now is the time for a ranked ballot in Illinois.

That's how they vote in Ireland (see www.IrishVoting.org for some details).

Basically, it's ridiculous that if more than two candidates win, the majority of voters might not get to pick the winner of a race.

We should hold a runoff election if no candidate earns a majority of the vote.

Then, if Senator Meeks (or anyone else) wants to run for office on a different platform than the major party nominee, that won't hurt the major party they are closer to.

Similarly, if we held a runoff election in primaries, then we'd ensure that the candidate with the broadest support actually wins. It's possible that Oberweis could win the gubernatorial primary if the majority of Tribune-ish GOP voters split between Judy and Gidwitz. (Assuming that's the 'real' majority of the GOP and all that -- change the players around if you'd like but you get the concept).

The Irish, and the people of Burlington, Vermont (www.burlingtonvotes.org), San Francisco, California (www.sf-rcv.org) both improve upon the majority-vote concept of a runoff election by using a ranked ballot and holding an instant runoff if no candidate earns a majority of first-choice votes.

We should do this in Illinois.

There are some bills: Paul Froehlich has HB 843.

Home rule municipalities can do this now if they'd like (pursuant to their constitutional authority, according to Lisa Madigan).

And, while it may not be realistic, it is possible to pass legislation to use instant runoff voting in the gubernatorial election this November. I'd imagine that the Governor would sign the bill if it hits his desk!

Also, see www.instantrunoff.com for more on the concept. (Full disclosure: I used to work for and helped to start the group that advocates for this in Illinois).