'50% of Americans are independent. Where’s the representation?' – Gary Johnson to RT (VIDEO)
Exposing the Commission on Presidential Debates and promoting “ranked voting” are among the big takeaways from the 2016 election, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson told RT.
“You gotta live with yourself two days after this election, two months after this election, two years after this election,” Johnson told RT’s Jesse Ventura and Lindsay France on Tuesday as votes were being cast across the country.
But Johnson believes most Americans are cheated out of the opportunity to learn more about political options outside of the Republican and Democratic parties.
“Look, if you're not in the Super Bowl of politics, in this case the general election debates, how do you compete?” Johnson implored. “How about the cutoff that if you're on the ballot in all 50 states that you should be in the general election debates?”
“I hope if nothing else comes of this election that people recognize that the presidential debate commission wears no clothes,” he added. “When 50 percent of Americans right now, when they go to register to vote, they're saying that they are independent, where is that representation?”
Aside from debates and media coverage, Johnson also is in favor of reforming how voters express themselves.
Ranked voting, also known as instant runoff voting, allows voters to select multiple candidates, ranking them by preference. That is “a great idea,” Johnson said.
“I think it does give third parties a chance,” he said.
