Ranked-Choice Voting

The Governor’s Working Group on Ranked-Choice Voting has begun discussing the merits and logistics of instant runoff voting, a procedure that could radically change how state elections are conducted. Gov. Ned Lamont initially announced the working group on June 6 after endorsing state election reforms during his 2022 campaign. The group will focus on developing a legislative proposal to allow ranked-choice voting in caucuses, conventions, primaries, and certain municipal elections for political parties and municipalities.

Your overwrought editorial blaming Rep. Emily Sirota for proposing an amendment to Senate Bill 24-210, a bill strengthening and defending Colorado election laws, was without merit. Additionally, you declared that Rep. Sirota’s amendment, which passed with no opposition, was “underhanded” and “subverting direct democracy.” The election bill amendment does not prevent multi-millionaire Kent Thiry’s ballot proposals from going to a vote of the people in November, it just allows Colorado to figure out if the proposals will work here if they get on the ballot should voters approve them.

Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune is leading a new push to implement a ranked-choice voting system for municipal elections, four years after Massachusetts voters rejected a similar statewide ballot initiative. In a home rule petition introduced Wednesday, Louijeune argued that while 55% of Massachusetts voters in 2020 spurned a system where voters would rank a series of candidates by preference rather than simply select their top choice, there was actually “broad” support for the change in Boston, where 62% were in favor. Such a change, she said, would “modernize...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Could Connecticut embrace ranked-choice voting? A working group is exploring the possibility. Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that he’d formed the group to look at options and come up with a plan to allow Connecticut to use ranked-choice voting in caucuses, conventions and some elections. The group’s recommendations will be presented to the legislature next year.

DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court ruled last week that an open primary and ranked-choice voting initiative can move forward to the signature gathering process, making it likely to appear on the November ballot. At the same time, a last-minute amendment by state lawmakers in the 2024 session now threatens the future of ranked-choice voting altogether, prompting calls for a veto from Governor Jared Polis. Regardless, Colorado Voters First, the group behind the RCV initiative, is pushing forward and hosting a signature gathering campaign kickoffon June 10. Open primaries and...

Campaign buttons urging Alaskans to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska sit on a picnic table at the home of Phil Izon, a backer of the initiative, in Wasilla, Alaska, on Tuesday, May 14, 2014 Arguments are scheduled May 28, 2024, in a lawsuit challenging the state Division of Election’s decision to certify the initiative for placement on the ballot this year. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen) Alaska’s new election system — with open primaries and ranked voting — has been a model for those in other states who are frustrated by...

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — A campaign to overhaul the way Colorado conducts its elections with open primaries and ranked-choice voting (RCV) is pushing ahead, appearing increasingly likely to make it to the November ballot. At the same time, a grassroots campaign is collecting signatures to ban ranked-choice voting altogether and close Colorado’s primaries back to only partisan party voters. Near the end of April, the state Title Board approved multiple variations of a measure that would enact RCV and open primaries for most statewide and federal offices in the...

The Louisiana state Senate gave final approval to legislation to ban ranked-choice voting, joining the backlash to the expansion of an election process that has helped Democrats flip Republican-leaning House districts in Alaska and Maine. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, is expected to sign it into law, making Louisiana the eighth state to enact legislation prohibiting ranked-choice voting. Critics say ranked-choice voting disenfranchises voters and can elect candidates who are not favored by the majority of the electorate.

If discarded ballots , inaccurate election results , and election outcomes that contradict the wishes of voters aren’t enough to make you distrust ranked-choice voting (RCV) , then maybe an endorsement from members of America’s communist party will. On Sunday, Drew Bradley and Ryan Krueger, two members of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), penned an op-ed calling on the party to consider “ranked choice voting as part of the broad democratic struggle and an aspect of building a stronger Popular Front.” Under RCV, which critics often refer to as “rigged-choice...