There was an interesting new post on the subject of ranked voting written by Calvin Cutler. Take a look at this excerpt:

Ranked-choice voting in Vermont could be coming to a ballot near you. Ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, lets you rank your candidates first, second, third and so on. The winning candidate has to receive a majority of votes.

With ranked-choice voting, if nobody gets more than 50%, the candidate with the lowest support is eliminated. Then those who voted for the eliminated candidate have their vote counted toward their second choice. A new bill in front of lawmakers would create a ranked-choice voting system for the 2024 presidential primary.

“We are routinely the state that votes outside of the two parties more than any other. Our voting system doesn’t deal with that. It solves several problems,” said Sen. Chris Pearson, D/P-Chittenden County.

Read more here. Maine became the first state to use the ranked voting system statewide starting only in 2018. Since then, a flurry of states and localities have been considering a switch to the unique system. 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.

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

So what is ranked voting? According to Democracy Chronicles’ friends at the nonpartisan nonprofit FairVote, an organization with its headquarters in Takoma Park, Maryland:

Ranked choice voting (RCV) makes democracy more fair and functional. It works in a variety of contexts. It is a simple change that can have a big impact. With ranked choice voting, voters can rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice. Candidates do best when they attract a strong core of first-choice support while also reaching out for second and even third choices.

When used as an “instant runoff” to elect a single candidate like a mayor or a governor, RCV helps elect a candidate that better reflects the support of a majority of voters. When used as a form of fair representation voting to elect more than one candidate like a city council, state legislature or even Congress, RCV helps to more fairly represent the full spectrum of voters.