Third party voting and instant runoff voting
 

With some talk about changing the electoral college and comments that it has been a while since a candidate got 50% of the general vote I thought I'd start this simple poll. With the country very polarized, I fully expect there to be fewer votes for third parties this year than in previous years. But if we had an instant runoff voting system setup in each state I would expect record number of people to vote third party. If you aren't familiar with how instant runoff voting works here is a quick faq hxxp://www.fairvote.org/irv/faq.htm
This would allow people to vote for a third party and still have a voice in the Bush or Kerry question. I know we have some people here who like the ideas some third parties have but are worried their vote would be "wasted" if they don't vote Kerry or Bush. I am curious to see how this turns out and also if you would like to comment on the idea of instant runoff voting you can do so here.

I vote third party anyway.

How about a 5-3-1 system? Mr. Sproles got screwed last election.

I think it is a poor idea to let people vote for 2 candidates, which is what the runoff system you ask about seems to allow.

Why is it a poor idea?

Heaven's no ... I've rarely seen a third-party candidate that I considered anything more than a member of an even more lunatic fringe.

Ditto.

I hate the idea of a runoff.