{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"text":"Support","color":"#2ca788","stance":"support"},{"text":"Oppose","color":"#ef3e42","stance":"oppose"}],"id":37510,"title":"New York City Adopts Ranked-Choice Voting - Should More Cities?","html_content":"

by Causes | 11.6.19

What’s the story?

New York City on Tuesday became the largest municipality in the U.S. to adopt ranked-choice voting for local primary and special elections.
The Big Apple joins 20 other cities, as well as multiple states, in adopting this voting reform.

What is ranked-choice voting (RCV)?

Also known as “instant run-off voting,” this electoral system allows voters to rank candidates, in order of preference, when marking their ballots. Voters can select as many – or as few – candidates as they wish.

If no candidate receives the majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who had selected the defeated candidate as their first choice will now have their ballots counted for their second choice. The process continues until one candidate has a clear majority and is declared the winner.
For example, if RCV was used during the 2016 presidential election, voters could have selected Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson as their first choice and Donald Trump as their second choice. Once Johnson didn’t receive enough votes to be elected, their vote would have been counted for Trump.

What are people saying?

Supporters

“You’ve got to be, I think, a better candidate,” said FairVote President Rob Richie.

“You as a candidate have a lot more reasons to have conversations and engagements with people. The candidates that run traditional campaigns that involve using money and not using people have not done as well.”

Opponents

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, published a report in August deriding the practice, arguing it obscures voter's choices and individual voting rights:

\"It also disenfranchises voters, because ballots that do not include the two ultimate finalists are cast aside to manufacture a faux majority for the winner. In the end, a voter’s ballot might wind up being cast for the candidate he ranked far below his first choice — a candidate to whom he may have strong political objections and for whom he would not vote in a traditional voting system.\"

What do you think?

Would you like to see ranked-choice voting appear on all ballots? Should it only be used for state elections? Or certain offices? Take action above and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: FairVote.org)

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No, it is not!","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/keri-lamle","slug":"nohedges","issue_count":137,"is_following":null,"influence_score":8360,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":190,"following_count":482,"position_count":885,"id":"8mrvdyDm","partner_id":null},{"name":"jimK","vote_count":566,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/large_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/small_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/tiny_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/following","followers":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/followers"},"about_me":"Retired, Politically Independent. Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":48030,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1628,"following_count":87,"position_count":562,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1099754,"body":"this system would give a better chance to reasonable candidates, and voters would have less pressure to vote for one extremist to defeat another extremist.","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":37510,"created_at":"2019-11-06T20:59:34.690Z","liked":false,"like_count":2,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/1099754","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=1099754&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":37510,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/1099754.png","note":{"text":"Support","color":"#2ca788","stance":"support"},"note_text":"Support","note_color":"#2ca788","user_id":"Lm4bgeXW","liker_ids":["8mrvdyDm","9odrQBnb"]}}

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