Presidential Elections, “Survivor”-style

As we watch this year’s presidential election develop, which is heading to the Biden-Trump rematch that most Americans don’t want, we should be thinking imaginatively of better ways to elect a president–ones that would let voters elect the candidate a majority of them most want to win. A new Common Ground Democracy column explores one such possibility, based on a format familiar to Americans from a popular TV show. Also, borrowing the idea of pooling electoral votes among states that collectively have at least 270 of them, this alternative electoral method could be adopted without needing a constitutional amendment. Ask yourself: would we really prefer keeping on using the current method rather than switching to this one? And if this reform proposal is not the best one to pursue for the sake of overcoming as quickly as possible the tribal polarization that is crippling American democracy, what would be a better idea?

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