In the Bob Casey-Dave McCormick Senate race, no candidate received the majority of votes.
McCormick won with 48.8% of the vote, narrowly edging out Casey’s 48.6%. Meanwhile, 200,000 voters — 2.6% of the total — backed third-party candidates and didn’t have a say between the two front-runners.
Some states hold runoff elections to ensure winners secure over 50%, allowing voters to choose directly between the top two candidates. But runoffs are costly and time-consuming and suffer from low turnout. There’s a better option: ranked choice voting.
With ranked choice voting, third-party voters could rank their favorite candidate first while still having their vote count for a front-runner if their top choice had no chance to win. It works like an automatic runoff, producing a majority winner instantly — no extra elections or extended campaigning required.
If Pennsylvania had ranked choice voting, those 200,000 voters could have supported third parties without forfeiting their voice in the final outcome. We can’t know if their opinions would have changed the result, but one thing is certain: Their voices should have been heard.
It’s time to adopt this commonsense reform and ensure every voter has a say.
Armin Samii
Lawrenceville