By Al Sheahen

 OpEdNews.Com

Once again, the majority of California voters picked a loser.

Arnold Schwarzenegger received 48% of the vote in the Oct. 7 recall election. In other words, more people voted against him than for him.

In 2002, Governor Gray Davis won with 47% of the vote.

Majority rule is a basic requirement of democracy. The will of a minority should not defeat the will of the majority.

President George Bush won the 2000 presidential race with 48%. Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon won with less than 45%. In 1994, three governors won with less than 38%. In 1997, the mayor of Albuquerque, N.M., won with just 29%.

What can we do to make sure the majority rules?

We need a way to promote majority rule in a single election. We need a system that helps candidates to win with less campaign cash. We need a system that allows us to vote for the candidate we like without helping to elect the one we dont.

We need Instant Runoff Voting.

How does Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) work?

All you have to do is pick your favorite candidate, followed by your runoff choices, and rank them: 1, 2, 3.

If a candidate has a majority of first choices, he or she wins. If no one receives a majority, the last place candidate is eliminated and the instant runoff begins.

Your vote counts for your favorite candidate who is still in the race.

The process is repeated until one candidate receives a majority of votes. There is no need for a runoff election, so we save millions of dollars in election costs. We improve voter turnout by giving voters more choices. We promote positive, rather than negative, campaigning.

On Oct. 7, Republicans who preferred Tom McClintock could have listed him as their first choice and Schwarzenegger as their second choice. Democrats, Greens, and independents who preferred Peter Camejo and Arianna Huffington could have listed them as their first and second choices and Cruz Bustamante as their third choice.

If we had IRV in our last presidential election, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader, and other minor party candidates would have been eliminated, leaving voters with a clear, final choice between Al Gore and George Bush. Whoever won, we would know they won because they represented the will of the majority of Americans.

Instant Runoff Voting is used to elect the mayor of London, the president of Ireland, and the Australian House of Representatives. San Francisco voters have approved a ballot initiative that would allow them to rank their top three preferences for the offices of mayor, district attorney and sheriff. Eventually, it will eliminate the need for the citys usual December runoff.

IRV eliminates the "spoiler" problem. Minor candidates could no longer threaten major candidates. Voters can vote their conscience, giving their first choice vote to a candidate they think may not win or make it to the runoff without fear of "wasting" their vote.

IRV promotes positive campaigns. Candidates will need to convince voters to give them their first or second-choice votes. Attack ads and negative campaigning will not entice voters to give a mudslinging candidate their second-choice vote.

IRV boosts voter turnout. Runoff elections can have extremely low turnout.

Because in each runoff tally every voters ballot is counted for the candidate they most prefer among those still in the race, the winner is always the candidate preferred by the true majority.

A bill has been introduced in Sacramento  SCA 14 (Senate Constitutional Amendment)  by Senators John Vasconcellos, Dierdre Alpert, Sheila Kuehl, Jack Scott, and Jackie Speier, that would establish IRV in California elections. An initiative is also in the works.

IRV would ensure that everyones vote counted; that no candidate would win without a majority.

In this computer age, there is no reason to accept less than full democracy.

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an edited version of this originally appeared in the LA Daily News.