Majority Elections

WHEREAS, our republican form of government requires the people’s political power be exercised through representatives elected by the people into various offices of government at local, state, and federal levels; and

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President of the United States, affirmed this notion in his Gettysburg Address emphatically declaring, “that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth;” and

WHEREAS, the electoral integrity of the “people, by the people, for the people: is most faithfully maintained when a candidate receives a simple majority vote of those elections whom they will be representing; and

WHEREAS, the State of Wyoming, by allowing for cross-over voting, the integrity of the Republican Party’s vote can be compromised by members of an opposing party voting the Republican Primary, thereby skewing the results relative to the will of those registered Republican voters’ and

WHEREAS, more than two candidates running for the same office may result in the winner receiving a plurality of votes, rather than a majority of votes, and thus not representing the will of the majority of the electorate; and

WHEREAS, in plurality elections, when an incumbent has two or more challengers, the incumbent holds the advantage in that their votes are not being divided among others like those of the challengers; and

WHEREAS, in plurality election outcomes, when more than two candidates are running for the same office, may not be representative of a simple majority of the electorate and consequently, lack the mandate of the people;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Wyoming Republican Party calls on the Wyoming legislature and the governor of Wyoming to pass and sign into law, legislation that mandates that should no candidate receive a simple majority of votes in any election, the two candidates with the most votes shall enter a runoff election, thus ensuring the winner represents the majority of the electors.

Passed:

Wyoming Republican Party, 21 Nov 13 SCC