Scott Shackford wrote:Hamlin says supporters of third-party and independent candidates should appreciate the system. In the 2016 presidential election, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson got 3 percent of the vote and Green Party candidate Jill Stein got one percent. In a study examining the race as if it were an approval vote ballot, Johnson's support jumped to 21 percent and Stein's support rose to 12 percent, Hamlin says.
That's certainly not enough for either of them to win, but it's an example of how our method of voting games the system so heavily in favor of the two dominant parties. If Johnson had been treated all along as a candidate with support of 21 percent of the population, how would that have affected the amount of media coverage he received, not to mention participation in debates? Would the Democratic and Republican parties be so dismissive about his positions?
Yea, or nay, anyone?