Adele R sent me an article entitled 2-for-1 Voting by Bruce Ackerman, which appeared in the May 5, 2004, New York Times. He proposes an interesting compromise in which voters could cast their vote for Ralph Nader, but still add their support for John Kerry.

As we all learned during the last election, the people do not really designate the president, the Electoral College does. When candidates get on the ballots in individual states, they must also name their slate of electors. Nader could choose to use the same electors as Kerry. This way, if Nader and Kerry win a majority in any state, the electors would be free to vote for Kerry in the final round, if they so choose.

Some states might refuse to let Nader name electors who he knows, in the end, will not vote for him. Nader would then have a legal battle on his hands in these states, but it is not beyond winning. Several states, however, have no laws against electoral independence and this procedure should function.

The question is: will Nader play along?