7 Reasons Ranked Choice Voting Is The Best Thing You’ve Never Heard Of… Yet

So, you probably already know that voting is cool. It’s how we make our voices heard. You know, like when we don’t like what certain politicians are doing, we can vote for somebody else. That’s democracy, and it’s pretty awesome. But sometimes politics can be super depressing – do you ever feel like campaigns are nothing more than scripted talking points and negative TV ads? Fortunately, there’s this thing called Ranked Choice Voting – and it’s the best thing you’ve never heard of (yet) because it has the potential to bring some serious, positive change to our elections. Here’s why:

1. Instead of getting to choose just one candidate from a list – surprise! You get to RANK them.

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Because, we're humans and not everything is a "this or that" answer. You probably like one of the candidates more than the rest - but I bet you have a second choice, too. And shouldn't that choice matter?

2. And if your first choice candidate doesn’t have enough votes to win – your vote will go to your second choice. Seriously!

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Yep. Your choices as a voter actually matter – and count – under Ranked Choice Voting.

3. Some awesome cities even already use Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to elect local candidates.

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We would never lie. Cities like Minneapolis and Saint Paul; San Francisco; Portland, ME; Cambridge, MA; and Telluride, CO. RCV is also used in democracies across the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and London.

4. Ranked Choice Voting decreases negative campaigning and polarization – and encourages candidates to actually debate and talk about the issues that are important to you.

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Wait, campaigns about ISSUES and not smear tactics?! *thumbs up*

5. Ranked Choice Voting gives you more choice and power as a voter – because it eliminates low-turnout, under-representative primary or runoff elections, consolidating voting in one high-turnout election in November.

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How can one little change to how we elect candidates make so much of a difference?! We know, it’s a lot to take in.

6. Not to throw too much at you all at once, but Ranked Choice Voting also has the support of some pretty influential people – ya know, like President Barack Obama (D) and Senator John McCain (R).

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Proving that not everything has to be Republicans VS. Democrats.

7. But the real test is what voters think about it, right? Well, Ranked Choice Voting passes *that* test with flying colors, too – in 2013, Minneapolis voters got to use RCV in a heated Mayoral race.

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The result? A whopping 85% of voters found RCV simple and easy to use, & more than two-thirds of all voters (across all age, income, education, and ethnic groups) want to continue using RCV.

Bonus: Want to learn more? Check out fairvotemn.org to cast a sample RCV ballot, or watch and share this fun video:

Via fairvotemn.org

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