Across the country due to a lack of civil conversation and debate, America grows more polarized politically, with the increasing result of political violence and policy gridlock. This lack of civil debate is largely the result of many Americans being trapped in echo chambers. Due largely to the reliance of Americans on social media for information, as well as the decline of journalism, people are insulated by their own views, falling victim to confirmation bias. A Gallup poll shows American trust in mass media at a new low of just 28%.
As a result of the political echo chambers in which many Americans are trapped, public opinion on many issues is increasingly divided, and a solution is desperately needed. Seventy four percent of independent voters, a group that makes up over forty percent of the voting body believe that a third party is needed. The problem though, is that many voters believe that voting for a third party candidate is a waste of a vote, that doing so will just split the vote of another good candidate, and result in the election of the least desirable candidate.
In most places in the country, including New York, the same format is followed, a general election between two major candidates decided by a primary for each of the two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. The problem with this system lies in the primary, only a small group of very invested voters vote in party primaries. Primary elections in New York State are closed, only open to voters registered with that party, excluding 3.4 million moderate, non affiliated voters who make up 24% of New York’s electorate. Voter turnout for general elections is determined by a person’s investment in politics, resulting in mostly those who are most politically motivated voting. According to the American Presidency Project only about 60% of eligible voters nationally participate in presidential elections. The turnout for general elections in years without presidential elections is significantly lower with voters feeling they have much less at stake, dropping to just a fraction of the total electorate. In primary elections this number drops even lower, in the 2022 New York midterm primary elections just 3% of the total electorate of the state voted, the lowest turnout in any state. The turnout is so low largely because the primaries are closed, producing just the most charged, extreme voters of each party, who in turn produce more extreme candidates, further polarizing American politics.
A solution to this problem could be the implementation of either ranked choice voting in primary elections, or a second runoff election if a candidate fails to receive over fifty percent of the vote. The ranked choice system has a short but so far successful history in the US, having been recently implemented in the state primaries of Alaska and Maine. In Alaska, traditionally a red state, it resulted in the election of a Democratic candidate to the states’ sole house seat. The runoff system, which pits the top two candidates against each other if neither receives over a majority of the vote, is another, perhaps superior alternative to the current system. While the ranked choice system would be logistically difficult, the runoff system would be much easier to conduct, and for voters to understand.
The result of the implementation of an alternative voting system would be the election of more consensus building candidates. More middle of the road candidates would take the US off a dangerous track of political violence and extremism that is driven by a comparative few.
Many states, cities and other municipalities have already reformed their electoral system in an effort to depolarize their communities. Most notably, California, Washington State and Louisiana have all instituted either a top two system for the primary, or a jungle system, more commonly known as a runoff system. These reforms have, if not depolarized slightly the politics of these two states, then they have at least neutralized further polarization of representatives as the rest of the country has grown more polarized.
The ability for New York State to depolarize its politics exists, legally the state can open its party primaries to independent voters, or go as far as eliminating them entirely as other states have. Any of these alternatives would at the very least reenfranchise voters, who often, as in the case of the New York City Mayoral race, struggle to find an attractive candidate at all.
For the purpose of depolarizing politics I urge all citizens reading this to reach out to their congressional representatives in the state legislatures. I urge you to lobby them to campaign for a different primary system in New York, one that will reenfranchise voters and depolarize the state and the country.