[EL] Utah != Alaska != Maine = NYC

Thu May 27 08:29:33 PDT 2021

And don’t forget the Virginia Republican Party’s use of ranked choice voting in their recently concluded gubernatorial selection convention: https://virginia.gop/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-State-Convention-Voting-Instructions.pdf.

=B.
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From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> On Behalf Of Pildes, Rick
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2021 11:25 AM
To: Rob Richie <rr at fairvote.org>; Jack Santucci <jack.santucci at gmail.com>
Cc: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] Utah != Alaska != Maine = NYC

Jack is right, of course, that the many recent adoptions of RCV employ it in varied contexts (though just as a correction, Maine uses it in federal races for the general election, as well as the primaries, and Maine voters voted to use it for statewide general elections as well, but a court decision blocked that latter use).

But from a broader perspective on the political culture concerning this issue, the fact that voters across the political spectrum, at the state and local level, and some state political parties, have chosen to switch to RCV is noteworthy.  This means millions of voters are going to be using RCV, in one form or another.  The experience those voters have will play into debates about whether to adopt RCV elsewhere.  It’s extremely difficult in American political culture to get voters to agree to changes in such a basic feature of elections as the voting system – harder still to find significant levels of support across our political divides.  Yet in just the last two years, UT/ME/AL/NYC voters have adopted it for major elections.  That’s the big picture point I think is worth calling attention to.

Best,
Rick

Richard H. Pildes
Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law
NYU School of Law
40 Washington Square So.
NYC, NY 10014
347-886-6789

From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu>> On Behalf Of Rob Richie
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2021 8:34 AM
To: Jack Santucci <jack.santucci at gmail.com<mailto:jack.santucci at gmail.com>>
Cc: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu<mailto:law-election at uci.edu>>
Subject: Re: [EL] Utah != Alaska != Maine = NYC

In general, we at FairVote talk with an interesting mix of Republican and Democratic state legislators and party leaders who find RCV's virtues appealing, consistent with Rick Piildes' proposition. The common principle that we find makes sense to many across the spectrum is that when you have a choice among more than two candidates,  a single choice is limiting and can lead to unrepresentative outcomes. Ranked choice voting provides a backup that makes it more likely your vote will count without your backup choice hurting the electoral chances of your first choice. In many ways, it's just common sense

In Utah, RCV has advanced in a very bipartisan way within the legislature and within cities. The 23 cities where the city council chose to use RCV<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.fairvote.org_rcv-23where-5Fis-5Franked-5Fchoice-5Fvoting-5Fused&d=DwMGaQ&c=XRWvQHnpdBDRh-yzrHjqLpXuHNC_9nanQc6pPG_SpT0&r=liAVgWK_6sjbUg6EC0f0khf6MyboEmFwaqEV2P3ukag&m=V6JvGLuuLQazO2-1pqvYoX9pnL9UpX2T-CzxJDfybBU&s=MVTdhOyJD9oXAbTTC-7m0NC2DiigADuy_tORLJz6emg&e=> represent a mix of liberal areas and conservative areas. The alternative to use of RCV for cities is holding a nonpartisan August primary that winnows the candidate fields to twice the number of candidates as seats for the November election (so 2 candidates advancing for mayor and 4 candidates advancing for an at-large council race). In Utah cities, the case for RCV isn't designed to change the basis for what share of votes it takes to win. Rather, it is grounded in an argument that RCV in one election is faster, cheaper and better<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.deseret.com_opinion_2021_3_17_22327919_utah-2Dcounty-2Dclerk-2Dauditor-2Dranked-2Dchoice-2Dvoting-2Drcv-2Dfaster-2Dcheaper-2Delections&d=DwMGaQ&c=XRWvQHnpdBDRh-yzrHjqLpXuHNC_9nanQc6pPG_SpT0&r=liAVgWK_6sjbUg6EC0f0khf6MyboEmFwaqEV2P3ukag&m=V6JvGLuuLQazO2-1pqvYoX9pnL9UpX2T-CzxJDfybBU&s=Kbp6cw47xIR2kagru8H98sjqsDsYs1fSx4Dt59yAlD4&e=> - and Utah RCV advocates find tha message can resonate everywhere.

Virginia Republicans this spring voluntarily chose to use RCV for nominating its statewide candidates<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.fairvote.org_va-5Fgop-5Fresults&d=DwMGaQ&c=XRWvQHnpdBDRh-yzrHjqLpXuHNC_9nanQc6pPG_SpT0&r=liAVgWK_6sjbUg6EC0f0khf6MyboEmFwaqEV2P3ukag&m=V6JvGLuuLQazO2-1pqvYoX9pnL9UpX2T-CzxJDfybBU&s=5pIM8BQoHgKxuenkmBLogEg1W54oxQnpMDmpLjlV9Yc&e=> -- choosing to run its own contest because the state primary doesn't offer that RCV option, but only a single-choice plurality system that can be problematic in a crowded field. A lot of Virginia Democrats like the idea of RCV in primaries as well, and I could see Virginina joining Utah in bipartisan consideration of adoption of RCV.

- Rob Richie

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