OCTOBER 4, 2024 VOTING DAVID KE DODGE Groundcover contributor Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a method by which voters in democracies cast ballots by ranking candidates according to their appeal and preference to each voter. Thus, if the ballot has five candidates running for one position in the office for which the candidates are running, a particular voter will place a number “1” beside the name of the candidate which the voter most favors, a number “2” beside the candidate whom the voter next most favors, and so on, with the candidate whom the voter least prefers receiving a number “5”. By a methodology which I will not try to explain here, the candidates are sequentially eliminated from the ballot according to their unpopularity, as evidenced by their having the fewest number of “1” votes. Each stage of the eliminations leaves each voter’s ballot changed by an elimination of the most unpopular candidate from their ballot, and a “moving up” in rank, by 1, of all the candidates who that voter liked less than the candidate who was eliminated in that stage. If, after a particular stage, a candidate has enough #1 votes to exceed 50% of the total votes cast, that candidate is declared the winner. Advantages to RCV There are a plethora of advantages of RCV to candidates and voters who love their nation: • During campaigns, a strategy of candidates to attack one of their opponents is not so appealing; the candidates realize that attacking one or more of the other candidates may alienate the voters who support those other candidates, so rank the offending candidate low on their ballot. The result is that candidates limit their campaigns to running on policies and positions on issues. • Because the candidates run on policies, the winners of the elections tend to disfavor gridlock, and thus serve terms of office promoting the public's authentic interests; legislative officers and administrators are more willing to reach across the aisle to garner support for proposed laws. As a result, more productive legislatures and administrators are elected. • Voters who don’t like either of the candidates of the two major political parties, and decide to vote for a third (or fourth or fifth…) party candidate, won’t necessarily be “throwing away” their vote. If enough voters share such sentiments, neither of the two main parties’ candidates will be elected. • Multiple interests will be reflected in the vote results — minority parties will be found in some elected offices. • Being a voting strategy which gives results similar to multiple runoff elections, the winner of an election will receive a majority of the vote, rather than the largest plurality; democracy will be more vital, and hence, government will enjoy greater trust and respect. • Parties and elections will be less subject to domination by small numbers of activists who are regimented to take control of local party processes for nominating candidates, and hence exercise power and influence far beyond what their small numbers can justify. • Participation rates in elections will likely be greater; surveys of voters leaving precinct stations after voting for the first time by RCV show a marked increase in the voters’ satisfaction with the experience. Challenges to RCV I’m yet in an early stage of taking a serious look at RCV; it’s appealing to me, but I anticipate there may be problems: • The means by which our leaders will be selected is more complex — it’s far easier to understand the details of how one of two candidates wins the election, by the most “X’s” beside his/ her name, than it is to understand the complexity of a computer repeatedly counting and eliminating candidates and ultimately declaring a winner who some bureaucrat on a silver screen announces to the public as the winner. In a nation which was once witness to a familiar, gradual, nationwide unfolding of state-by-state results until a candidate was declared the winner of the electoral college, there was a sheen of “legitimacy” to the process which has been increasingly automated, with increasing distrust in our electoral institutions; • The nation will have taken another step toward turning over the keys of our power-assignment institutions to technocrats, instead of precinct workers who have a love of democracy and have historically shown their work to be found accurate by recounts; some means of vetting the technocrats for devotion to democracy, perhaps by the administration of polygraph, is necessary. • RCV has a number of potential vulnerabilities to evasion of its intended performance. For example, there is a question of how names get on a ballot — if the process is not carefully thought-through, a ballot of five candidates might have two Democrats and three Republicans. The devil is in the details. GROUNDCOVER NEWS Ranked Choice Voting – enhancing democracy How it can happen here I’ve been aware of RCV for some time, and have recently learned of the existence of an organization in Michigan that is working to amend Michigan’s Constitution by an initiative to place RCV on the ballot in the 2026 election. That organization is named “Rank MI Vote.” RMV is very much a grassroots movement of private citizens. It is just starting to gain momentum in its efforts, and the people who join today will find themselves very involved in fundamental planning, conceptualization and decision-making. But an overall plan of action exists and was revealed in a Zoom meeting of its members on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. If you wish to fill yourself in on their overall plan-of-action, you can get RMV to send you a link to the Zoom meeting by submitting a request to: communications@rankmivote.org RCV is becoming increasingly used in cities, counties and states across the nation, including cities in Michigan. Once supported by many U.S. citizens of all political stripes, as RCV has been increasingly used in elections, it has accrued opponents as incompetent, extremist and/or corrupt politicians find themselves losing elections. Some such opponents are even participating in attempts to repeal the laws which provide for RCV. In addition to RMV’s Michigan presence, “Fair Vote” is promoting RCV nationwide. GET ACTIVE! Engage! Our self-determination is at stake. 7
8 Publizr Home