Cleaner Elections

A likely benefit of Approval Voting is that elections will be "cleaner" than we experience with the plurality voting system. This is because the tactic of "going negative", which has become a common tactic in plurality elections, is more likely to back fire in Approval Voting. This is because the approval rating of both the target and the initiator or negative attacks tend to go down. This would enhance the prospects of any uninvolved additional candidates who might then emerge as a consensus winner simply be staying "above the fray."

Another important consequence of Approval Voting will be that candidates will be quicker to reach out to the members of competing political parties for cross-over support. To do this effectively they will need to understand the concerns of those voters and this should improve the communications between various political factions. Over time this should help reduce the rancor between the various political parties.

Once cleaner campaigning and a renewed focus on issues emerges due to Approval Voting, we can also expect to see the quality of candidates increase. Many capable people don't run because they don't like attacking style that gets rewarded by plurality voting systems. By contrast, Approval Voting rewards candidates that can appeal to a wide audience which means that moderate candidates and/or consensus building candidates will be rewarded and that the electorate as a whole will be happier with their elected officials.