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Once again, voter turnout has proved how absolutely bonkers it is to have runoff elections in this state. A handful of N.C. voters on Tuesday picked the winners in races left unresolved in the May primary - at an astounding cost of around $5 million. In Mecklenburg County, the price-tag is expected to be $350,000.
That's a lot of money for the abysmal turnout. Statewide voter turnout was 4.49 percent, with just 212,322 votes cast out of registered voters numbering over 4.7 million. In Mecklenburg County just 2.23 percent of voters went to the polls - 10,232 of 458,469 registered voters.
The drop-off in votes was dramatic for the U.S. Senate race between Democrats Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham. The total number of votes cast in the runoff was 158,447. Marshall, the runoff victor, got nearly that many votes alone - 154,605 - in the May primary. Cunningham got 115,851 and there were four others in the race who got a total of 154,887.
GOP runoffs were held for the 8th, 12th and 13th congressional districts where voter participation also declined.
We've said it before but after this election, it's worth repeating - with gusto - this is crazy! A small number of voters should not be deciding these races. We should ditch the primary runoff for a better system.
Here are a couple of ideas: Lower the percentage of votes needed to avoid a runoff - perhaps to 35 percent. Or use what's called "instant runoff voting." Voters rank their choices, and if no candidate wins 40 percent, then the top two advance to the "instant runoff." Officials review ballots for candidates who didn't make the cut, and those voters' second choice votes are allocated. Whoever ends up with the most votes wins. Instant runoffs are already used in England, Ireland, San Francisco and Minneapolis, among other places.
Bob Hall, executive director of the nonprofit Democracy North Carolina, likes the instant runoff. "In Southern states, coming out of a one-party history, it is something that needs to be looked at again," he said.
In 2006 the state authorized a couple of experiments in instant runoff voting in Hendersonville and Cary. The Henderson County elections director says it's worked well in mock elections but hasn't yet been used in a real one. Cary tried it in a 2007 election but hasn't tried it again, as it required both machine and hand-counting.
Yes, moving to a new system might cause some problems. So the state should study the matter - but start now.
It's time for a change. The runoff system we have is costly and gives disproportionate voting power to a few. It makes no sense - especially in tight budget times.
