A better way to run elections

I want to express my support for ranked choice voting and encourage readers to ask their legislators to back this important election reform in the Connecticut General Assembly.

We are facing many critical issues in our state and country right now, but there is none more important, in my opinion, than the need for nonpartisan election reform. Because until we change the way we run our elections, we will never see a meaningful change in the hyperpartisanship that is undermining our politics and government. And, without a functional government that is more responsive to voters, it’s hard to see how we will ever make significant progress on the broader issues we face.

There are many ways to make our elections more fair and democratic — from nonpartisan redistricting to open primaries to campaign finance reform — but Ranked Choice Voting, or RCV, may be the most powerful and simplest to implement. In races with more than two candidates, RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If there is no majority winner in the first vote count, the last place candidate’s votes are “eliminated” and the secondchoice votes on those ballots are then transferred to the other candidates. This recount is done instantly and normally results in one of the top two finishers winning a majority. If not, the process is repeated until there is a clear majority winner.

This system ensures that the winning candidate always has majority support; no more candidates winning with only 30 to 40 percent of the vote. It also encourages people to vote for alternate party candidates without worrying that they might be throwing away their vote on a “spoiler” candidate (think Ross Perot in 1992 or Ralph Nader in 2000) or on a candidate that later drops out. And because of the potential importance of second-choice votes, it encourages candidates to reach out to more voters and find more common ground, while discouraging negative campaigning.

RCV is getting a lot of attention and support across the U.S.. Alaska and Maine have adopted it for their state and federal elections, and many municipalities across the country now use it. Also, many leading elected officials and numerous editorial boards have endorsed it.

We may be the “land of steady habits” here in Connecticut, but isn’t it time for us to implement election reforms like RCV, so that we can give voters more say and begin to fix our democracy?