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 game changer. The latest news comes from a really interesting article by MATT FRIEDMAN from POLITICO

You’ve probably heard of ranked-choice voting, in which voters rank their choices on a ballot and the results work kind of like an instant run-off. Well, the effort has landed here in New Jersey. Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex), fresh off making the bog turtle the official state reptile, on Monday introduced a bill to convert New Jersey into a ranked-choice voting state.

There’s a bunch of things that would have to happen first. We’d need new voting machines, for one. And we’d have to amend the state constitution if we want to rank our choices for governor. Oh, and there’s the small matter of getting political bosses to agree to something that would probably decrease their power.

Check here for full story. Ranked choice voting fever continues to spread as more states and localities consider the system following the lead of Maine, the first state to use the voting system. Republican legislators are introducing many ranked voting bills, showing that the partisan battle seen in Maine may not be repeated nationally. First comes the news out of Missouri:

The proposal filed to go before lawmakers in the new legislative session would require federal, state and local elections to use the Instant Runoff Voting Method (IRV). The IRV bill from Republican Representative Dan Stacy of Blue Springs would establish a form of casting ballots in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. In the event that one candidate fails to achieve a 50 percent-plus-one majority, the candidate with the fewest number of first-preference rankings is eliminated and those votes are redistributed. The process is repeated until one candidate achieves the required majority.

Other states and localities that have recently seen legislation proposed to make the switch to ranked choice voting include Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, the city of Baltimore, and at least four cities in Utah. Click those four links for the latest related Democracy Chronicles coverage!