Perfectly fair. Fair doesn’t mean you get your way every time. If they did get enough votes they could win, but by virtue of not being on the ballot it’s harder to do. What do you suggest, adding all 350mil+ US citizens to the ballot?
I suggest moving to proportional representation. Essentially, proportional systems try to ensure that if a party gets 5% of the votes, they get 5% of the seats. It’s obviously not a solution for single-winner elections like mayor, but it’s a great system for councils and legislatures. That way, it’s much more likely that voting for a minority party candidate will actually get you some representation in office. (There’s a million ways to it, with some trying to place an emphasis on local representation and others trying to get as close to proportional as possible, but they’re all leagues ahead of pure single-winner systems.)
Now, you might be saying “you didn’t solve the problem for single winner methods!” Never fear, we can use a voting system that satisfies the sincere favorite criterion. My favorite is Approval Voting, but any of them will do. The sincere favorite criterion says that the optimal voting strategy should always include giving your true favorite maximum support, whatever that means under that particular voting system.
Perfectly fair. Fair doesn’t mean you get your way every time. If they did get enough votes they could win, but by virtue of not being on the ballot it’s harder to do. What do you suggest, adding all 350mil+ US citizens to the ballot?
I suggest moving to proportional representation. Essentially, proportional systems try to ensure that if a party gets 5% of the votes, they get 5% of the seats. It’s obviously not a solution for single-winner elections like mayor, but it’s a great system for councils and legislatures. That way, it’s much more likely that voting for a minority party candidate will actually get you some representation in office. (There’s a million ways to it, with some trying to place an emphasis on local representation and others trying to get as close to proportional as possible, but they’re all leagues ahead of pure single-winner systems.)
Now, you might be saying “you didn’t solve the problem for single winner methods!” Never fear, we can use a voting system that satisfies the sincere favorite criterion. My favorite is Approval Voting, but any of them will do. The sincere favorite criterion says that the optimal voting strategy should always include giving your true favorite maximum support, whatever that means under that particular voting system.