Source: 30dB.com – Ranked%20Choice%20Voting
When no clear winner emerges from a packed field of candidates, the top two go head-to-head, with voters for those cut out of the race potentially swinging the election. However, one state has had enough of runoffs. On Tuesday, voters in Maine decided to implement ranked-choice voting, which has voters choose candidates by order of preference. “If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes,” The New York Times explained, “the candidate with the fewest is eliminated, and the ballots cast for that person are redistributed to the other candidates based on those voters’ second choices. The process repeats until someone wins a majority.” The system is controversial. Maine Republicans have argued that ranked-choice voting is unconstitutional since November 2016, when Maine voters first decided to try it. Because of Tuesday’s vote, the state legislature has until 2021 to quit stalling and implement the system. Despite the Republican outcry, ranked choice voting has fans online. The idea of eliminating runoffs and installing ranked elections gets 55 percent positive opinions online. –Hugo Guzman
Republished from 30dB