Bring civility back to politics
By Hosanna Broderick
Pacific Green Party of Oregon

The 2004 election in Oregon was yet another depressing essay in scorched-earth politics. From the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" to the shameful behavior of both major parties regarding Ralph Nader's campaign, to the incessant attacks on candidates' intellect, patriotism or moral fiber, issues took a back seat to name calling and political gamesmanship.

While negative political campaigns that seek to polarize voters are currently a pervasive problem, they are not an inevitable one. One simple change to our system, the use of instant-runoff voting (IRV), may go a long way toward bringing civility back to political campaigns.

As a candidate for Benton County Commissioner in this election, I ran against Democratic incumbent Jay Dixon and Republican candidate Randy Killen. I did my best to run a positive, issue-oriented campaign. It was therefore quite a surprise when my campaign manager received an angry e-mail from a voter disgusted by the automated phone message he received, telling him that Jay Dixon was backed by the timber industry and that, if he wanted to save the environment, he should vote for me, Hosanna Broderick, the Pacific Green candidate. I was disgusted, too! This anonymous "robo-call" was not made by my campaign, but by someone eager to discredit Greens and Democrats alike.

As an underhanded political trick, this incident was eclipsed by far worse across the nation. But it does highlight a very important point: If we are going to have a truly democratic election process, we need a system that gives candidates an incentive to run positive, issue-oriented campaigns. Some still believe that deception is the key to victory. As a result, voters don't get the information they need to cast an informed vote, and many become so disgusted or disillusioned that they don't vote at all.

There are solutions to help improve the political climate. One popular idea is ranked-choice voting. An example of this system is IRV, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of voting for just one candidate. To win in the first round, a candidate must be the first choice of more than half of the voters. In each subsequent round, the candidate in last place is eliminated, and those ballots are recounted for their second, third, fourth choice, and so on, until one candidate can claim a majority.

And in a recent article about San Francisco's use of a ranked-choice voting system, the New York Times reported that "An early effect has been to introduce a new civility among the candidates, something many San Franciscans have whole-heartedly embraced. Because the winner of each district might be determined by the voter's second and third choices, candidates have quickly learned that it is best to be on friendly terms so as not to alienate their opponent's supporters." Suddenly spoilers become allies, mudslinging backfires, and campaigns center around issues instead of attack ads.

IRV won't solve all of our problems, but it's a step in the right direction. Voters deserve better than to be terrorized with attack ads and blatant disinformation campaigns. In 1908 the people of Oregon recognized the importance of ranked-choice voting and guaranteed our right to use it under Art. II Sec.16 of the Oregon Constitution. IRV is a step towards eliminating underhanded election-year tactics, and we should all urge our elected officials to make IRV a part of Oregon's elections.

Hosanna Broderick is an artist, activist and mother making her home in the Coast Range foothills of Benton County, Oregon.

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