For the second election in a row, Florida has decided to dispense with primary runoffs. But they could be saved in a way that's convenient for voters.
Published July 28, 2003
Long before Florida holds its 2004 primary election, California will offer a glimpse of what can happen without runoffs.
The recall ballot in California, scheduled for Oct. 7, may draw 10 candidates, or 20, or maybe more. And if voters recall Gov. Gray Davis on the same ballot, then one of those candidates could become governor with perhaps as little as 20 percent of the vote.
A similar standoff might play out in the 2004 primary elections in Florida. With U.S. Sen. Bob Graham at least currently in the race for president, his vacant seat is attracting more than a little political interest. But the lack of an incumbent is not the only inducement here. Potential candidates in both major parties know the ballot could be so crowded that they may not have to convince more than a third or a fourth of the voters.
This is not the way to nominate or elect candidates who are best equipped to govern, but it was signed again into law last week. For the second consecutive election, Florida now has decided that the majority won't necessarily rule. The first time the primary runoff was dropped, in 2002, the reason was crassly political - to make Democrats scramble in their primary against the sitting Republican governor, Jeb Bush. This second time may be less politically motivated (though don't count out House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's quest for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination as a possibility), but the rationale is, in some ways, more jarring. After the state's costly investment in new elections machinery, elections officials now complain a runoff election would be too hard to conduct. Go figure.
Lawmakers heard convincing testimony earlier this year about one obvious solution. Instant runoffs allow a voter to pick a second choice at the same time as the first, avoiding a second trip to the polls. Instant runoff voting eliminates the cost and the voter dropoff in a true runoff election, and the task is actually made simpler by the advent of new technology. If Florida can't bring back a true runoff election, then it can do so in an instant. That way, the majority still rules.
