Top-two primary systems are designed to reduce political polarization by allowing the top two candidates, regardless of party, to advance to the general election. However, there are concerns about potential downsides, such as limiting third-party representation and possibly lowering voter turnout. Could this system actually stifle political diversity? Would it lead to more moderate candidates, or could it reduce voter choice? How might this impact heavily partisan districts?
The more complete solution is ranked-choice voting.
Agreed. The two-way runoff requires a new round of voting - since voters preferences for the top two were not adaquately recorded. But with RCA you’d basically be doing this without needing to actually host additional voting rounds - you just collect enough info in one round and then compare votes and preferences until you have your candidate.