A nonprofit called Rank the Vote Ohio held an online event Sunday afternoon. The non-partisan organization says their goal was to educate Ohio residents on ranked choice voting.
Maine State representative Diane Russell was the keynote speaker. She got a ballot initiative passed in 2016, which enacted ranked choice voting for statewide elections. Maine became the first state to use this process.
Kyle Herman is a co-executive director of Rank the Vote Ohio, and says they’re trying to do the same thing here.
“Our current plurality wins system limits competition, and so it limits voter choices, and rank choice voting gives voters more rights,” Herman said.
In a ranked-choice system, voters rank all the candidates on the ballot instead of picking one. If no one wins the majority, there will be an instant run-off election. Herman says this eliminates the spoiler effect, where voters may feel torn between two candidates.
“Just last year, there was a congressional primary where a candidate won with only 37 percent of the vote,” Herman said. “I don't think people realize how limited our choices are by our current system and how often it is that we end up with candidates who don't have a majority support.”
The event was held on NationL RCV day, and is in collaboration with national groups like FairVote and Rank the Vote National.
