The appeal of approval voting

Like many voters, I will need to carefully review each candidate’s statements to decide who to vote for. With stances so similar, it may be a small nuance in a candidate’s position that convinces me. However, my concern with this many candidates competing in a choose one primary, is that there will be vote splitting. This is when similar candidates split the distribution of votes, and it may hide which candidate has the highest approval among voters. Worse, it may lead to the candidate with the lowest approval getting through the primary.

Approval voting is a simple election reform that would allow us to vote, or approve, of one or more candidates during an election. This change reduces vote splitting and increases the chance that the candidate with the broadest support will win. The actual change to the ballot is trivial. Instead of “Vote for One,” the instruction would be “Vote for One or More.” Voting for only one candidate is still allowed. Voting for all candidates except for one, also becomes an option.

This small reform can equal a big improvement, which allows voters to more completely express their preferences. For more information please visit CalApproves.org.

David Ma

San Mateo