Independent news, information, and analysis on emerging alternative voting methods to replace the choose-one voting method used in most US jurisdictions and give voters more choice at the ballot box, including ranked choice voting, approval voting, STAR voting, and more.
Could ranked choice voting soon come to the nation’s most populous state? That is the goal of a new coalition that officially launched on Tuesday, September 21.
The Lansing City Council agreed in July to put a question on the November ballot that would make the switch to ranked choice voting. However, now the same council members that said residents could decide for themselves how elections are conducted in the city may pull the initiative.
Voters in New York City won't know who won Tuesday's hotly contested Democratic mayoral primary just yet. Voters went to the polls to rank for the first time their preferences in a large field of viable candidates. And, thanks to the implementation of ranked choice voting (RCV), getting only a plurality of support was not enough for any candidate to advance to November.
It is only May and already 2021 has been a monumental year for ranked choice voting. Not only is RCV being used for the first time in New York City, but 23 Utah cities have passed ordinances to use it in upcoming elections.
The Equal Vote Coalition announced Monday that a historic new bill has been introduced in the Oregon State House that would establish STAR (Score, Then Automatic Runoff) Voting as the default voting method in Oregon. Oregon would be the first state to adopt the voting method’s use.
The conditions that allow human greed to corrupt institutions such as the American system of governance have the same elements as those required for a criminal conviction—motive, means and opportunity:
Momentum continues to build for broad systemic changes to how US citizens elect their public officials. Reforms like ranked choice voting and nonpartisan primaries are growing in popularity as voters look to solutions to make the political process fairer and voter-centric.
With 2020 near its end, political reformers are looking toward the future, and what proposals are working and what proposals need more attention. One proposal that is getting more attention from some reformers is proportional representation.
The movements to reform the electoral process in the US made significant and historic gains during the 2020 election.
The “Yes on 2” campaign to bring ranked choice voting to Massachusetts elections highlighted a new Spectrum News/Ipsos poll Friday that showed an 11-point advantage going into Election Day. Forty-five percent of survey respondents said they supported Ballot Question 2, while 34% opposed it.
Twenty-one percent of voters surveyed were undecided.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has added his voice behind the growing movement for systemic political and electoral reform in the US. Yang joined FairVote Senior Fellow and author David Daley for a webinar to discuss his support for ranked choice voting and why he believes it will lead to greater competition, fairness, and policy diversity in elections.