Personally, I have fallen in love with run-off elections (not sure the specific name) as used for electing the mayor in Chicago. Basically, there is an officia

Personally, I have fallen in love with run-off elections (not sure the specific name) as used for electing the mayor in Chicago. Basically, there is an officially non-partisan election in which anyone qualified can be on the ballot. The vote is held, with everyone able to vote for one person on the list. If there is a single winner (50%+1) then that person is declared the winner and the election if over. If no-one gets a majority of the votes the top 2 candidates face off in a run-off election about 2 months later. This allows everyone to vote for their preferred candidate in the general election without 'wasting' their vote, but ensures that the eventual winner was chosen by at least 50% of their constituents. There's obviously some tweaks that can be made (for one, it doesn't need to be non-partisan) but I think it does a very effective job at avoiding some of the party politics and the pandering to the base for the primary then moving to the center you see in many elections.