Dear Editor:
Jersey City residents should not give up their runoff elections as was done in Hoboken. Without runoffs you end up with a situation where someone could win an election with as little as 34 percent of the vote. What good is voter participation if that’s the result? It’s a situation that makes it very simple to skew the results by running a spoiler to split the opposition. Of course, in Hudson County no one would ever stoop to such tactics. Whether the elections are in May or November is not the primary issue.
The issue is having representatives that are chosen by the majority of the people. If the cost of elections is such a concern, then you could have instant runoffs in which people cast a vote for 1rst and 2nd choice candidates. Then if no one has a clear majority on their first choice votes you could count the second choice votes of anyone other than the top two candidates. In any case, don’t give up your right to a popularly elected representative. It’s worth the extra cost.
Greg Ribot