Ranked-choice voting benefits all parties

In March, ranked-choice voting advocates organized hours of testimony from dozens of Connecticut voters in support of a bill which, among other things, proposed allowing political parties to use RCV in party primaries. The bill secured written testimony from Gov. Ned Lamont in addition to numerous young voters who feel unheard and unrepresented in our democracy and veterans who fear that our elections are increasingly designed to boost incendiary candidates.

RCV offers tremendous benefit to voters by promoting collaborative candidates and increasing competition in our elections, thus pushing more candidates to listen to and engage with their voters, but political parties stand to reap rewards from employing RCV in their primary elections, too. The traditional system of choose-one voting allows polarizing figures to secure party nominations with the support of only a passionate minority who can deliver a plurality of votes in their party's primary. These polarizing candidates often struggle to connect with a wider audience during the general election, thus imperiling their party's chances of winning.

Parties that use RCV in their primaries, however, would produce more consensus-driven candidates who are more likely to win over unaffiliated voters in the general election. Candidates who are nominated using RCV appeal to a broader segment of their party, thereby increasing the chances that they will appeal to a broad segment of all voters. RCV holds the promise of revitalizing our political discourse, fostering coalition-building over polarization, and promoting better representation. All political parties in Connecticut should be advocates of a voting system that helps principled candidates who build bridges rather than burn them in every party.

Holden Culotta Guilford