Ranked Choice Voting explained

It seems to me that people who like ranked choice voting might also be inclined to do their own income tax returns.

The ranked choice voting system saves a certain amount of government money since we don’t have to have multiple primary elections for various parties, though they all happen at the same time. Saving money is a good thing. But RCV, as it’s called, seems to have a cost in lost brain cells — at least for we math-constrained English majors.

The jury is still out on whether it increases or decreases turnout. Count me as a pessimist but I find it hard to believe that RCV will in the long run bring more people to the polls. Knowing that you will be facing a test of sorts is a deterrent to showing up at the polling place, at least to some of us.

In the past most voters found a candidate they liked, stuck with that opinion and on election day they went to the polls and voted for that person. Now there seems to be pressure from the powers that be to evaluate all the candidates before you vote. Then if your first-choice candidate loses, your second choice might win. Or perhaps your third choice or even your fourth.

That is probably a good thing and it seems attractive to a great many people. But I can’t help but believe it is going to reduce the numbers of people voting, particularly in low-income and minority neighborhoods. Except, of course, when one or more of the candidates are members of those groups.

Alaskans voted to adopt the ranked choice voting system in the 2020 election and it is scheduled to be implemented for the 2022 election. Alaska will be only the second state to use RCV, joining Maine, but the system is used for local elections in many parts of the country. And it seems to me that the system probably works best in local elections where you might know the candidates.

There are some obvious advantages to the RCV system and many other communities that adopted it have seen a distinct improvement in their turnouts. Those with strong upward swings in their turnouts include large cities like San Francisco and Oakland in California as well as Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota.

One of the reasons cited for the better turnout is that candidates try to engage with voters more than they did with previous systems. That suggests each candidate tries to give voters a feeling that they have a personal relationship with him or her. It can involve a lot of handshaking and face-to-face salesmanship but candidates can also give voters a measure of that feeling through mailings and other mass-media communications. It takes a certain talent, for sure, and some politicians are much better at it than others, but it can work. And hiring talented staff or agencies can help a lot.

Some RCV communities also report a significant increase in people discussing politics with friends, family and co-workers. That increased communication seems to have a very positive impact on the voters, increasing their ability to make the choices and confidence in the choices they make.

In future Alaska elections we will still have a primary election when all candidates will be on the ballot and the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will then be on the final ballot in November. That next primary will be on August 16, 2022.

When the final election comes on November 8, 2022 voters will be marking up a ballot with the four finalists names listed. They can vote for all four but must rank them in the order of preference.

One critical aspect of RCV is that you don’t have to make more than one choice. You can assign your order of preference for each or you can pick your favorite and do a bullet ballot for that person.

In case you haven’t guessed, I don’t do my own income tax return. My wife and I hire some very talented accountants to do the job. Having either one of us do our own taxes would be a financial disaster in the making.