| Editorial Advisory Board | The Maryland Daily Record |
Have you ever given much thought to who actually elects the county executive or mayor where you live? It is probably far fewer voters than you might think. In fact, a surprisingly small number of voters often determines the winner. Is this what we really want in a democracy?
Candidates splitting […] the votes
One thing that could help remedy matters would be, as in some states, a requirement that a candidate receive at least 50.1% of the vote to win an election. Here, Jawando received only 40.1%, with two other candidates splitting 56% of the votes, and all others receiving that other 3.9%. The primary in 2018 presented an even more striking situation, when Marc Elrich won by a mere 77 votes, getting 37,532 votes (29%) to David Blair’s 29% (37,455 votes). An instant runoff or some form of ranked choice voting would be better alternatives in our view.