Second Primaries and Instant Runoff

Here's a topic to make your eyes glaze over. The sort of detail only a policy wonk enjoys.

In last Tuesday's Democratic Party primary election, there were six candidates seeking nomination as the party's candidate for U.S. Senate. The leading vote getter was Elaine Marshall, with 153,953 votes (36.6% of the 423,453 votes cast). Second was Cal Cunningham with 115,590 votes (27.3%).

So Elaine Marshall won, right?

Not exactly.

Under North Carolina Law, a candidate has to win 40% of the vote to win. Elaine Marshall came up 3.4% short.

What now?

We have to hold a second primary (also called a runoff) between the top two candidates to determine the winner.

In Pamlico County, the second primary will require us to hold one-stop voting for a couple of weeks, followed by the election on June 22. We are required by state law to open all ten precinct polling places for election day, no matter how light we think the turnout will be. Some other counties have runoff primaries for local elections, but U.S. Senate is the only race here in Pamlico County.

Who can vote?

Any registered Democrat can vote, whether or not he or she voted in the first primary.

No registered Republican can vote.

Anyone registered as unaffiliated who did not vote in the May 4th Republican Party primary can also vote.

Is there a better system? Probably. Some options:

1. Just pick the leading vote getter at the first primary. Most states do that. Runoff primaries are only prevalent in the South. The origin of primaries, including the runoff system, is often attributed to the populist or progressive movement. The true origin may be less benign, as recent research seems to show.

2. Use "instant runoff," where voters rank their choices. This needs computers to determine the outcome. Some US municipalities have tried it.

For real policy wonks, there are at least a dozen different variations of instant runoff.