And so it begins again, another week of campaigning before the student body president runoff election.
For future elections, student government should adopt an instant runoff system.
In such a system, students would rank the candidates in order of preference. But they wouldn’t have to list more than one if they felt their first choice was the only one for them.
If no candidate received a majority, the last place candidate would be dropped from the ballot. For those who ranked that candidate first, their second choice would then be counted.
In 2010, Student Congress narrowly passed a bill to implement an instant runoff system. However, then-student Body President Jasmin Jones — who won in a runoff after initially finishing second — vetoed the bill.
Jones then supported legislation to reduce the initial campaign time from 28 days to 21, claiming it was a compromise to save money on elections.
But since 2003, all but two elections have seen runoffs. That time and money add up. Switching to an instant runoff system saves students both.
The turnout for runoff elections is also typically much lower than the initial vote. A new system would allow those who participate in the initial round to still have their vote count.
Others argued that an instant runoff system was confusing and could face technological issues. But the system is quite simple — N.C State University adopted a similar format in 2008 — and it wouldn’t take long to educate.
