Letter: A vote against Ranked Choice Voting

To the Editor:

I recently read about the new election idea called Ranked Choice Voting.

What is Ranked Choice Voting? Let’s say that Peter, Paul and Mary ran for governor. Ranked Choice Voting instructs me to rank my candidates in the order of preference. Let’s say that I like Mary and I rank Mary as my first choice. In RCV, one candidate must receive a majority of the votes in the first round to win overall. When no candidate received a majority, and my choice, Mary, received the least votes, Mary was eliminated. As a result, my vote automatically went to one of the least- favored-by-me candidates.

A study in Minnesota and California, where Ranked Choice Voting is used, found a strong correlation between the adoption of RCV and a decline in voter turnout. Reducing voter turnout cannot be good for voters.

We know that traditional voting isn’t perfect, but when we keep it simple, we have fewer confused voters. Where confusion exists, corruption will proceed unencumbered. The American Civil Liberties Union said RCV led to 10% of ballots being thrown out.

The Maine Policy Institute reported that in RCV no winning candidate ever received more than 50% of the vote. Therefore, RCV does not promote voter’s mandates.

Moreover, implementing RCV would require reeducating voters and a need for the redesigning of ballots, voting systems and results reporting. Confusion would preside.

The record shows the complicated Ranked Choice Voting systems bring a lower voter turnout and delayed election results, as well as a lack of trust in our elections and fewer people voting. I vote NO on Ranked Choice Voting. I vote for each vote to be counted as marked by the voter. I vote for no Ranked Choice Voting with hidden counting over and over with no transparent way to audit the precincts or the elections.

Charles Danyus

Round Lake Beach