Eye On Illinois: Flag contest provides chance to experience different voting system

It’s almost time to vote! We just have to wait until January.

Oh sure, there’s an actual election Tuesday, but Illinoisans should preserve a little energy to focus on the process of considering a new state flag. A six-week period for submission of design ideas just ended, meaning the Illinois Flag Commission now has to comb through 4,844 entries to come up with 10 finalists for an online voting process.

For everyone opposed to the idea, a reminder we were promised “no change” would be an option. It turns out we can also go backward: Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is leading the commission lawmakers created in 2023, clarified this week the current design will be a voting option as will the 1918 Centennial and 1968 Sesquicentennial flags.

The public vote isn’t final. The General Assembly will vote on three options: adopt a new flag, keep the current one or go vintage. What this should mean is throttling outrage until the commission’s final report to lawmakers, but it’s not hard to find folks who are upset with the process existing so chances are good that sentiment will shift into overdrive once we start seeing prototypes.

No one asked me, but this would be a wonderful opportunity to give Illinoisans more practical experience with ranked-choice voting. We should be further along with this process, but the Ranked Choice and Voting Systems Task Force has yet to formalize its report, which had been due March 1.

The idea is spreading slowly in Illinois and throughout the country, but the flag process is a perfect, nonpartisan vehicle for showcasing the concept.

Rather than giving the race to the option with the most votes – even if it isn’t a majority – voters rank their choices in order of support. The initial count tallies everyone’s first choice. If none reaches 50% plus one, there’s a second count. Whichever option came in last is eliminated. Any ballots that listed the last-place finisher as the top choice get added to those voters’ second choice.

FairVote, a nonprofit election reform agency, suggests voters stop ranking if they’re indifferent about remaining choices, but encourages developing opinions about the full slate. A completely ranked ballot “will never hurt your first choice, but it might help your next choice defeat your last choice.”

The idea is consensus. It’s impossible for everyone to have their favorite win, but ranked choice allows a broadly acceptable compromise at the expense of more extreme and polarizing options.

And regarding that other vote: For any questions about the process, contact local officials. Find yours at capitolnewsillinois.com/elections/local-election-guide. Beyond that, the national, nonpartisan Election Protection coalition operates a hotline (866-687-8683) and website (866ourvote.org). Be safe, smart and involved.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.