Ballot Box. MWC file photo.
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – There are seven candidates running for Mayor in Madison.
The current mayor Satia Rhodes Conway is seeking a third term. She has name recognition and the power of incumbency. But she’s not a shoe-in. Her city is facing a difficult budget year, and the police shooting of Corey Ruiz is seen by some voters as a stain on the police department that she oversees.
Mayor Conway is an unreformed liberal. But this election cycle she has several candidates who are running to her political left.
Some people argue that the Mayor’s race in Madison is the perfect opportunity for ranked-choice voting. It is not. Ranked-choice voting could only lead to political chaos. And it may be illegal.
For this year, at least, it’s too late to change the rules of the election
Under ranked-choice voting in a seven-candidate scramble, there’s a good chance that the candidate who gets the most first-place votes could lose. A candidate who gets more second and third place votes might win under a ranked-choice scheme. How is it democratic if a candidate who comes in third gets to be mayor. And certainly the candidate who got the most first-place votes would challenge in court, and declare that they are the rightful mayor.
The problem with ranked choice voting is this: our understanding of democracy is that the voters pick their choice – their one and only choice – for a political seat. Election Day is about a candidate convincing the voters that they are the one person who should hold office. If there is to be only one mayor, what business do voters have in picking a runner-up or a second, third or fourth runner up? As a voter, you express your choice – your one and only choice – when you cast your ballot. Anything else is Alice in Wonderland politics, where a candidate who didn’t win might somehow assume office.
Chris Conley
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