In the simplest form, preferential voting is a ranking system for votes. Let’s say we preferred Bob Barr for the 2008 presidential election, but saw McCain as slightly better than Obama. As ballots exist now, you “hold your nose” for McCain, who has a realistic chance of winning.

But a preferential system is different. In this system, you rank your votes by choosing a favorite, then a second favorite. Your vote for the favored Barr will go to Barr if his vote total places him in the top two in the election results. If your favored isn’t among the top two vote-getters, your second favorite is selected in an instant runoff. Because you ranked him second, you don’t have to hold your nose for McCain; the ballot does that for you.

With this one change to the ballot, voting outside the duopoly is no longer a strategic mistake in any race. The worst of all evils never has to benefit from your disillusionment.

But now you’re cynical again, because the state legislatures belong to the partisan duopoly. Majorities would never pass a bill that would revoke the privileges of the existing order. That will indeed prevent preferential voting from ever becoming law in roughly half the states, but the other half allow for citizen-driven ballot initiatives.