Lawmakers Push To Bring Ranked Voting To D.C.

A change to ranked voting and away from the universally used plurality voting system is beginning to be seen by many in both parties as a potential gamechanger. A majority of councilmembers in DC have backed a bill that would bring ranked choice voting to DC by 2024. This article published by Dcist is written by Martin Austermuhle. Here is an excerpt:

A majority of D.C. councilmembers are supporting a bill that would bring ranked-choice voting to D.C. as soon as 2024.

The bill, introduced Wednesday by At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson and six of her colleagues, comes in the wake of New York City’s recent mayoral election, the first citywide election to be conducted using ranked-choice voting. The system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference; if no one candidate wins an outright majority, the worst-performing contender is dropped and votes are recalculated using voters’ second choices, and so on until one candidate wins a majority of support.

Under Henderson’s bill, voters would be allowed to rank up to five candidates in any one race, like in New York. In a statement, she said New York City’s experience shows the benefits of ranked-choice voting.

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