The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 1, 2022
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Fair Vote – RANKED CHOICE VOTING
Better Ballots Georgia – What is Instant Runoff Voting?
The Advocate – Letters: An ‘instant’ fix for Louisiana’s ruined runoffs? a ranked-choice voting ballot
State of Maine – Ranked-choice voting in Maine: Frequently Asked Questions
Axios – A proposed way out of Georgia’s runoffs
RCV123 – Ranked choice voting groups around the country
Groups Taking Action:
Fair Vote, Better Ballot Georgia, Ranked Choice Louisiana
Today’s Script: (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
As we approach the December 6th runoff election for U.S. Senate in Georgia, we’ve been discussing runoffs: What they are, and where they’re used. One type of runoff is gaining popularity in states, counties and cities across the country – Instant Runoff or Ranked Choice Voting elections.
Regular top-two runoff elections usually have a much lower turnout, but the expensive infrastructure for an election still has to be there. Municipalities must pay poll workers and officials, retain polling places like schools, churches, and arenas, and provide police protection. One of the benefits of Ranked Choice Voting is built into the choices you make on a regular election day, and doesn’t require a separate runoff election.
As the name suggests, voters rank their choices in order of preference. If one candidate receives a 50%+1 vote majority as first choice, that person is the winner. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and each of those votes are applied to that voter next highest choice, and the percentages recalculated. That process continues until there is a candidate with the 50% +1 majority.
The State of Alaska just implemented ranked choice voting and open primaries earlier this year. Nevada just took its first step toward ranked choice on November 8th, and Seattle just passed it for city elections.
We have more information on how instant runoff ranked choice voting works at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.