In Montgomery, council members agreed to two-round runoffs this spring. The problem in our democracy, however, is not how many candidates are in a race but that the elections system does not provide any mechanism to ensure that a winning candidate receives majority support. That is no kind of mandate. This undermines how well new officeholders reflect their constituency.
Runoff elections are the right approach, but two-round runoffs are beset with problems.
Two-round runoffs also are costly. Further, two election rounds mean that candidates must raise and spend more money to run for office. A simple reform, which Hendershot and the Prince George's County Council are studying, called instant runoff voting, can solve all these problems. Instant runoff voting maximizes voter turnout in one decisive election. If at the end of the first tally, no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the candidate with the fewest number of first-place votes is eliminated.