Two years ago, Florida legislators decided to scrap
the second primary election, or runoff as it also is known. But it
may be coming back.
The way the second primary worked was that
if no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote in the first
primary, then the top two candidates squared off again a month
later.
Elections supervisors pushed to eliminate
the runoff in the wake of the 2000 presidential election fiasco.
They complained that the October runoff election gave them little
time to prepare absentee ballots to mail to out-of-state and
overseas voters.
But there were many
Republicans and Democrats who have fond memories of the runoff since
some of them, including current House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant
City, would have not been elected without it.
Famed Florida Democrats such as Bob Graham and
the late Lawton Chiles would have never been elected as governor or
U.S. senator, respectively, without the runoff.
So the compromise selected two years ago was to
eliminate the runoff for the 2002 elections only. Unless lawmakers
act the runoff elections will return for the 2004 elections, when
politicians like Byrd may be making a bid for higher office.
Rep. Mike Hogan, R-Jacksonville, chairman
of the House subcommittee on ethics and elections, said last week
that the House does not plan to push legislation to eliminate the
runoff in future elections.
Sen. Anna
Cowin, R-Leesburg, chairwoman of the Senate Ethics and Elections
Committee, however, says the Senate is concerned about reinstating
the second primary. She said her committee is looking at the
possibility of installing a so-called ''instant runoff.''
The way it would work is that if there were
more than two candidates in a race voters would pick both a first
and second choice on their ballot. If no candidate won more than 50
percent of the vote, then the top two candidates would receive all
the second place voters of the eliminated candidates. Florida
actually had this system in place between 1913 and 1931.
But Cowin said she's unsure if she's willing to
put the ''instant runoff''
system in place other than as a pilot program. She's fearful it
will confuse voters.
