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Opinion: Superdelegates expose super problems in voting system
By Ryan Stone
from WillametteLive, Section Opinion
Posted on

Who's excited for the Oregon primaries? The truth is no one. No one even mentioned Oregon until 23 other voting states could not make up their minds. Easily excited media and bloggers declare that Oregon's voters MAY have an impact.

But what if Oregon voters can't decide either? And what if the three other states that have primaries even later than Oregon (Montana, South Dakota, Puerto Rico) can't choose a clear frontrunner either? What happens if August rolls around and the Democrats have no true candidate? That's where superdelegates come in and our votes go out.

Superdelegates differ from ordinary delegates in the sense that they are free to support any candidate for nomination. They are seated based on their status as current or former elected party officials or officeholders. In a race as close as Obama and Clinton's, the ability of these superdelegates to decide without any backing of actual voters can turn former party officials into king makers. We have no control over who they are, or what their qualifications are.

The country is in need of voting reform. It's time to start over. Perhaps we should steal the voting forms that the Labour Party in the United Kingdom uses: instant-runoff voting. Here's how it works. If the candidates are George W. Bush, Al Gore or Ralph Nader, you can rate your favorite candidate number one, and give your second candidate a number two. If you don't like a candidate at all, you can leave it blank.

If a majority voted for a candidate, then the winner is chosen. Otherwise, the candidate with the lowest percentage is eliminated. After the candidate is eliminated the next vote occurs with the highest ranking of non-eliminated candidates. In other words, if your number one choice was eliminated, it would go to your number two pick.

Suddenly multiple parties become more realistic. A Green Party candidate can run unhindered by complaints of being a "spoiler." And suddenly everyone's vote counts -- even Oregon's.

Instant-runoff voting can be done via the mail, like Oregon's vote. And each state could vote for their party's candidates on the same day. Better yet, primaries wouldn't be necessary and it could give us more opportunity to learn about the candidates.

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Professional Integrity and Journalism (#1)
by Anonymous on Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 09:23:12 AM PDT
I have enjoyed your website and though I have been in conflict with some of your opinions, that's okay because you provide a balance to opposing opinions. I contrast you with Salem-News.com and I just can't believe the difference. Many of us have posted comments (politely, no mean words) that have provided just the opposite opinion on Salem-News.com (we provided primary source links for those opinions when we provided data) then we either got threatened for spreading lies, or the comments were not posted. Even some have told me they had their IP's blocked. When posts that were made that were sympathetic with their articles thesis, no problem. Lately we saw that they have disparaged our current war veterans with providing false information, dressed the late President Reagan in a gang-banger outfit, and on and on with unprofessional behavior. It's my prayer that the this website be recognized for what it is, a far far left slanderous agenda-driven organization that should not be afforded any recognition as a source of professional reporting. Go to the site yorself, if you like far far left conspiracy types of articles, you found a home. If you prefer an objective source of news articles without an agenda, then this is not the place. Tim King, a part owner with his wife Bonnie have no professional academic credentials and Tim King who maintains throughout the website that he was a Marine, was in fact a low ranked enlistee during peacetime who was involved in maintenance. This is fine, but he frequently comments on his combat experience, he has none, though he constantly diminishes combat veterans and current combat military personnel via his writings and his posted comments.



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