Can you please explain your current understanding of the presidential election system in America?
Have you ever been exposed to or involved in a movement to change the election systems in America?
Do you believe the current election systems in America are optimal?
What sort of changes do you think could be made to make the election systems better optimized?
What is your personal opinion on IR-RCV?
My proposal to improve the election system in America includes IR-RCV and informational pamphlets or brochures to ensure voters understand both the candidates and election system. What are your initial reactions to this proposal, and what would you suggest to improve it?
Interview Notes
Interview Question 1
Votes are counted at the state level
Each state is either red or blue
“unless a miracle arises”
If there are more red states, red wins & vise versa
Interview Question 2
Heard of RCV
“doesn’t really do political movements”
Wishes the election system would change
California votes barely count
“high density populations are basically voiceless”
Interview Question 3
Dosen’t really know how “smaller positions” are elected
wish that presidential election votes from densely populated states were more relevant
voting logistics are pretty hard for some people
getting off work
getting to a ballot place
being homeless (not having an address)
not owning ID
decentralization of vote counting can be a good thing
harder to cheat
voter suppression is probably much less significant than other things
gerrymandering
manipulated and messy voter psychology
small amount of cheating that must happen
control over social media or media media
Interview Question 4
RCV (yay)
Undo gerrymandering
better voting logistics so everyone can actually vote
automatic voter registration
early voting periods
felons can vote???
delete or fix electoral college
deviates too far from the popular vote
“we are both from california so this could be personal”
better security
People need to trust that votes are secure, “So trump can’t just ask for 3 re-dos”
votes probably are being manipulated
Interview Question 5
Pros
reduces impact of strategic voting
people can just vote for who they actually want
encourages candidates to try to appeal to more people
causes more issue-focused campaigns
Cons
complexity
voter confusion
maybe even harder for people with poor english comprehension or not a lot of education
is it actually better to have someone that most people are okay with instead of someone who half of people really like?
Interview Question 6
The pros states previously apply “obviously”
the pamphlets seem like a half-baked effort to fix the cons
will more languages be offered or only english?
what will the cost of the pamphlets be?
with the additional cost of the voting system itself, who will pay for the informational thingies?
Consider…
gradual implementation
one state at a time if keeping electoral college
use it once as a small weight (10% ish) to the current election system
detailing how the logistics will work
will any of the ballot-box issues be addressed or will everything stay the same?
how will you ensure people with less education understand things at least a little bit
Why did you choose to request an interview with this individual? What is their connection to the problem you decided to focus on for your final essay?
I chose this person because they have lived in multiple states so I thought they might talk about the psychological effect of having your vote matter or not in our interview. Also, they will be voting for the first time in the upcoming election, which is somewhat interesting.
Was this your first time conducting an interview? Did you learn anything new about conducting interviews that may come in handy next time you conduct one?
I’ve conducted interviews for HS projects several times. I put much more effort into conducting this interview, since I am more interested in the topic and class at large. I really liked having pre-written questions, and I really liked asking questions that took a while to answer, instead of the really simple questions I normally end up asking.
How did your interviewee’s perceptions align with or differ from your own? What factors do you think influenced these similarities or differences?
Kyle pretty much agrees with me on most things, I think he grew up in the bay before moving to Arkansas for 2 years, and now he’s back… Most of his personality was formed in the bay, so it makes sense that he mostly still holds the same opinions as me.
Include two excerpts (e.g. 2-4 sentences each) from the interview that stood out to you as particularly interesting and/or insightful comments. What stood out to you about each excerpt and how did they each add to your understanding of the topic?
It was interesting to me that Kyle pondered “is it actually better to have someone that most people are okay with instead of someone who half of people really like?” - I don’t really have a good answer for why it is or isn’t better, and it’s something I want to explore more while writting my final… Thanks Kyle!
It was also surprising to me that Kyle focused so much on the additional complexity of RCV and it’s difficulty for people with little education or poor english skills to understand. I should have asked him if he related to that personally or something because he focused in on it a lot. I think I still don’t really believe that it’s that complicated to understand, but I also think I might just need to empathize harder…
How did the insight(s) you gained in the interview add or challenge any prior assumptions you had about the topic? Please elaborate on if and how your previous views were validated or challenged.
One prior assumption that my interview helped change was my unwavering opinion that a candidate who most people didn’t mind is better than one who some people really like. I think in my leadership experience, sometimes you have to commit really hard, and the commitment to a particular path matters more than a path itself. I don’t think American politics works like this because of the stakes and complexity, but maybe it does.
What might be some follow-up discussions you might wish to have with the interviewee about the chosen topic in the future?
I want to ask Kyle if he has a personal reason to mention the difficulty for under educated people to understand RCV so many times. It might not show in my summarized notes, but he really focused in on that a lot, and it makes me very curious.