• President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out so close to the convention is unprecedented.
• Democratic voters have a right to be frustrated, but they are not disenfranchised.
  
• Ranked choice voting may be a way to prevent circumstances such as this from eroding voter trust in elections in the future.

​President Joe Biden recently opted to decline the Democratic Party’s nomination for a second term as president. This decision has left many wondering about the process of selecting a new nominee and what it means for the presidential election.

With the Democratic Party’s nominating convention just a few weeks away, Biden’s decision has put the party in an unfamiliar position.

“Voters have a right to feel frustrated,” said Matt Germer, director of governance at the R Street Institute. “President Biden circumvented the primary process and prevented voters from having a say in the nomination.”

Germer noted, however, that Democratic voters should not feel disenfranchised.

“[I]t seems highly unlikely to me that the Biden team planned this last-minute handoff from the beginning, and the Democrats appear to be trying to stumble through a process for which there is no playbook.”

Despite the imminence of the convention, it does not appear that the nominating process will be an open one. Vice President Kamala Harris, following a formal endorsement from Biden, has been rallying support from across the party.

“If Vice President Harris is able to secure majority support of the Democratic delegates – and it appears she has – then she will be the nominee,” said Germer. “If she does not earn enough support, this opens the door to a contested outcome.”

These events could have implications on public trust in elections if not properly addressed with future fail-safes.

Germer believes the issue has no easy answer, but he said an overhaul of the primary voting system could have prevented concerns over finding a favorite to be the nominee.

“One thing that could help in circumstances like this would be greater use of ranked choice voting in the presidential primary,” Germer suggested.

Such a method would have given the Democratic Party the ability to pivot to the second-choice candidate in the nominating process.

Sutherland’s chief growth officer, Derek Monson, agreed with Germer’s suggestion of ranked choice voting.

“The strength of ranked choice voting in a presidential primary is that it places the power over the impact of a vote in the hands of the voter instead of in the hands of the candidate who was their first choice,” said Monson. “Voters can trust that their vote will live on with their second- or third-place candidate, rather than dying with the candidacy of their first choice.”

Biden’s decision not to pursue a second term will be studied for years to come, both for its impact in the 2024 election and for its role in the overhaul of future primary elections. Though the solution is not simple or single-faceted, discussing the possibility of ranked choice voting is a good place to start.

For a more in-depth perspective on this article, review our Elections Issues Page here.