TX: Libertarian Party Chair on Spoilers and Voting System Reform

Via the Libertarian Party blog, the head of the Libertarian Party of Texas, Pat Dixon, speaks out on the so-called "spoiler effect" and voting reform in the Texas Tribune:

“The expectations we try to set are not necessarily getting to office,” says Pat Dixon, the head of the Libertarian Party of Texas, “but we want numbers to go in a positive direction.” Dixon doesn’t care if his candidates take votes away from the major parties. You can’t spoil an election if the mainstream parties are already rotten, he says. “[Spoiling] would be a concern if there were candidates on the ballot on either the Democratic or Republican parties who were really close enough that we would rather have them in office,” he said. Dixon pointed to the fact that Libertarians often do not run against U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who represents the more libertarian element of the Republican Party, and who was the Libertarian Party candidate for president in 1988. Ironically, this year a Libertarian will be challenging Paul for his seat.
Dixon advocates a different type of voting system, in which voters could check all the candidates they approved of, rather than only voting for their favorite. He says it would be friendlier to third parties, and offer voters more options. Furthermore, “in that voting system there would be no spoiler,” he says. In the current system, Dixon says Libertarians are equal opportunity spoilers — they don’t just take votes from the Republican candidates. “Now with Democrats sort of in their ascendency, that’s going to change,” Dixon says, and he points to his party’s stances on social issues, which are often more in line with Democratic policy.