Nick Troiano

Well, runoffs get a bad rap for some good reasons, including that they have been used historically in ways to disenfranchise- Oh, it was about denying Black representation in the South, right?

Right.

And two things can be true, which is that there are systems that have runoffs today that don't necessarily have that negative impact that you actually do see turnout increase in the runoff.

That is the case in Louisiana, for example, in their governor's races.

Louisiana has a very interesting election system where there is effectively no primary.

There is a general election.

Everyone gets to be on the ballot.

They're kind of.

top two, right?

Just like Washington.

And if no one gets majority, there's a runoff.

And so in that case, the top two finishers advance.

Or if someone gets a majority of the vote, it's a one and done election.

And by the way, it's simpler for election administrators.

It's simpler for voters.

And it's better for democracy because the election that matters is the one in which most people are already voting.

And so you get a more representative election.

And there's not this initial primary filter where only 10% of voters who are usually on the most extreme fringes of the political spectrum are deciding election outcomes.

And so this will sound wonky and maybe mechanical to people, but it has an impact on public policy.

Because when you look at Louisiana,