TO THE EDITOR:
Prompted by a great DTH editorial from earlier this semester, I decided to introduce legislation in Student Congress that starts moving our single-office elections to an Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) system over the summer.
This would allow students to rank the candidates on their ballots.
A candidate with a majority of votes still wins, but if no one attains a majority, the last place candidate is eliminated.
Those who voted for that candidate will have their second choice count as their “instant runoff” vote.
If students read the editorial, they can see the many benefits of IRV elections. We’ve had student body president runoffs in most recent years, with 1,300 fewer students voting in the runoff than in the general election this year.
The runoffs contribute to voter (and candidate) fatigue, and cost students additional money.
The new system would also help mitigate the problem of students thinking they can’t vote for a low-polling candidate without “wasting” their vote.
I’m writing this letter so students can learn about the proposed system and provide feedback to their elected representatives before the bill comes up at the last session of Student Congress on Tuesday.
While I understand student government electoral reform might not be the most riveting topic for many students, I know that everyone involved in student government appreciates hearing student opinion and is interested in how we can improve student elections.
