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Can Ranked-Choice Voting Change U.S. Elections?
Proponents confident they'll get ranked-choice voting on the Mass. ballot
May 28 2020
Griffiths is a contributor to Independent Voter News.
Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020 announced Wednesday that it has smashed the signature requirement to get ranked-choice voting on the November ballot. Campaign workers say they are on pace to collect the most signatures for a ballot initiative in Massachusetts history.
In an email to supporters, the campaign said it has collected 17,084 raw signatures, and is averaging over 800 new signatures per day. It needs 13,347 verified signatures by June 17 to go before state voters in the general election.
If approved, Massachusetts in 2022 would become the second state, after nearby Maine, to adopt the system for electing all state executive officials, legislators and members of Congress.
<p>"Thanks to our amazing volunteers, we're right on track to meet and exceed our campaign goal of 25,000" the campaign said.<br/></p><p>According to the campaign, the signature validity rate is around 73 percent. This means it appears likely that the campaign has already cleared the necessary bar it needs to get to November, and should have more than enough cushion by the deadline.</p><p>The coronavirus pandemic has threatened the success of many ballot initiatives across the country. However, <a href="https://voterchoice2020.org/" target="_blank">Voter Choice Mass</a> scored <a href="https://ivn.us/posts/courts-will-protect-the-voting-rights-of-party-members-but-why-not-independents" target="_blank">a major legal victory</a> that allowed campaign workers and volunteers to collect signatures electronically in the second stage of the signature gathering process. The state already certified over 111,000 signatures for the statewide ranked-choice voting campaign <a href="https://voterchoice2020.org/state-certifies-over-111000-signatures-ranked-choice-voting-ballot/" target="_blank">in December</a>.</p><p>Voter Choice Mass credits its success to the motivation of its volunteers, who it says have put in the time to reach thousands of Massachusetts voters every day — even in these uncertain times. </p><p>In RCV elections, which have also been embraced by a score of cities, voters list candidates for each office in order of preference. A candidate receiving a majority of first-place ballots wins. Otherwise, the candidate with the fewest No. 1 votes is eliminated. Then the ballots ranking that candidate No. 1 are redistributed based on their No. 2 rankings. This process is repeated until one candidate reaches a majority. It is allso called an "instant runoff" system.</p><p><em>Visit </em><a href="https://ivn.us/" target="_blank"><em>IVN.us</em></a><em> for more coverage from Independent Voter News.</em></p>
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How a Justin Amash presidential bid could help the cause of democracy reform
Apr 30 2020
Griffiths is a contributor to Independent Voter News, where an earlier version of this piece first appeared.
<p>Michigan's Justin Amash has a storied history as a political outsider in Washington. Although he's won five terms in Congress with an "R" next to his name, he often bucked the establishment and party line on issues such as spending, war, government surveillance and marijuana legalization. </p><p>He quit the Republican Party 10 months ago and is the only member listed as an independent on the official House roster. And on Tuesday he announced he would explore a run for the Libertarian Party's nomination for president – which would mean putting his rebellious streak on the national line by mounting a longshot challenge to the flawed ways the two major parties monopolize our democratic system.</p><p>Here is a little background: Amash was the only GOP member of the House to come out in favor of impeaching President Trump, almost a year ago. By then he had established a reputation as one of the few Republicans to consistently speak out against the president. </p><p>Amash's support for impeachment drew the ire of the group in which he was once a prominent figure: the House Freedom Caucus. It was a decision that also put a major target on his back.</p><p>On the Republican side, the party would no doubt run well-funded challengers to oust him in the primary. On the other side, Democrats saw an opportunity to flip his seat. So, Amash was feeling pressure from both parties to get out of Congress.</p><p>Instead, he<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/justin-amash-our-politics-is-in-a-partisan-death-spiral-thats-why-im-leaving-the-gop/2019/07/04/afbe0480-9e3d-11e9-b27f-ed2942f73d70_story.html?utm_term=.dd33dc35de25" target="_blank"> dropped the GOP party label</a> last July and declared himself an independent, which made his path to reelection much more challenging given how the current system emphasizes a limited choice for voters — red or blue, Republican or Democrat.</p><p>Now, Amash looks to be headed up or out. He <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/15/politics/justin-amash-presidential-run-decision-soon/index.html" target="_blank">announced in April</a> that he had stopped actively campaigning for reelection — although he still remains in the race. And on Tuesday night he <a href="https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1255293442516815872" target="_blank">went onTwitter</a> to unveil a new website, "Amash for America," that strongly signaled his intent to run for president.</p><p>"We're ready," the homepage says, for "an end to cronyism" and "an honest, principled president who will defend the Constitution and put individuals first." </p><p>A third party contender who has built the sort of public profile Amash has could shake up the race — drawing votes from both sides of the aisle and bringing in independents. However, this means he would immediately be scapegoated as a spoiler. And, no matter the outcome, he would be blamed by the losing major party for its defeat in November.</p><p>Kurt Couchman, who used to work in Amash's Washington congressional office, penned <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/07/opinions/justin-amash-derail-2020-election-couchman/index.html" target="_blank">an op-ed for CNN.com</a> in July 2019 describing how Amash could change the electoral landscape in 2020. But he also noted that, to avoid the spoiler effect, presidential elections needed a reform such as <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/ranked-choice-voting" target="_self">ranked-choice voting</a>.</p><p>"To ensure that the ultimate victor has a mandate … Congress and the States should enact ranked-choice voting without delay," he wrote. "The stakes for 2020 are incredibly high, and the American people need clear outcomes." </p><p>But, to the potential benefit of those who want pro-voter reform, the choose-one voting method is not the only flaw in our current system that would be brought front and center should Amash run. </p><p>He would also raise awareness to the fact that:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>The presidential nomination process disproportionately focuses on candidates of the two major parties for the entire year, instilling the idea that voters only have two choices.</li><li>As a result, it is impossible for a third party or independent candidate to make the <a href="https://ivn.us/topic/debates" target="_blank">presidential debate stage</a> under the rules for inclusion. This is mainly because of the Commission on Presidential Debates' rule that to participate a candidate must poll above 15 percent in five polls of the commission's choosing. </li><li>Third party candidates have to spend all their money and resources just to get on the ballot in enough states to have a mathematical chance at an Electoral College majority, and even then they face possible legal challenges from the major parties.</li><li>The nation's campaign finance laws overwhelmingly support the major parties, allowing them longer periods of time to raise money and <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/pages/brochures/contriblimitschart.htm" target="_blank">unlimited gateways to funnel money between parties and campaigns</a>. This makes it impossible for outside candidates to raise anywhere near as much as major party candidates. </li><li>Thus, Amash's candidacy would further highlight the reality that the system makes it impossible for meaningful competition to exist in presidential elections.</li></ul><p>A high-profile independent or third party presidential campaign, whether people support it or not, would provide pro-voter reformers further evidence why the United States desperately needs to rethink its political system and transform its electoral process nationwide.</p><p>It could build on the tremendous momentum the reform community continues to see.</p><p><em>Visit </em><a href="https://ivn.us/" target="_blank"><em>IVN.us</em></a><em> for more coverage from Independent Voter News.</em></p>
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At Unrig online, talk of voting at home to save lives
Apr 03 2020
Griffiths is a contributor to Independent Voter News.
The coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on American life and the democratic process. Voters want a meaningful say in the 2020 elections, but they don't want to risk their health to exercise their constitutionally protected right to vote.
In response, the vote-at-home movement has gained significant traction as reformers and election officials consider the best methods and practices to keep voters safe while protecting their civil rights.
What vote-at-home brings to the broad conversation on improving the democratic process was the topic of the first of a six-part, virtual Unrig Summit series, hosted this week by RepresentUs, to keep voters connected to the movements to transform the American political process.
<p>"In the face of this pandemic, there is an urgent need for all states to adopt vote-at-home systems to ensure the safety of voters and poll workers. We have to ensure we have full and fair elections this year and beyond," the group's founder, Josh Silver, said as Thursday's discussion began.</p><p>The U.S. political process was already struggling before the Covid-19 crisis, he noted, and a root cause is the "wonky" election law nook that rigs the system for those with the most power.</p><p>More than 600 people tuned in online to hear from former Republican national chairman and Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold of Colorado and GOP Secretary of State Kim Wyman of Washington.</p><p>"It is important at this point in time that we have unfettered and uninhibited access to the ballot box," said Steele, now chairman of the <a href="https://www.usvotefoundation.org/" target="_blank">US Vote Foundation</a>, which provides state-specific voter services and information.</p><p>All <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx" target="_blank">all 50 states</a> offer some absentee voting. However, the burden of getting such a ballot can be extremely tough depending on the state. There are, however, 33 states with "no excuse" absentee voting and five with all-mail voting systems. Colorado and Washington are on that list and have the highest turnout rates of all the states.</p><p>"It is important that whether someone is from a small town like me, with more elk than people, or a big city, rich or poor, young or old, that they get a voice in our democracy," said Griswold. "Bottom line is, if you make elections accessible, people will vote."</p><p>Some participants had questions about the security of vote-at-home. No elections system is 100 percent secure and it is important for states to build the necessary controls to prevent fraud, Wyman said. For instance, her state has a system to compare signatures and flag duplicate or when someone uses another person's name to vote.</p><p>She said most of the problems — provisional ballots wrongly added to the count, mainly — happen at a polling place as a result of errors by minimally trained, overworked poll workers. So improving their training is the answer.</p><p>Griswold also noted her state uses certified paper ballots and the best available auditing system, two controls she said can't be hacked and give voters greater confidence in election security.</p><p>Ensuring every voter may vote from home by November is "completely feasible," she said, because most states have an infrastructure that can be bolstered — if there's help from the federal government. </p><p>The $2 trillion economic rescue package signed a week ago allocated <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/03/25/senate-stimulus-bill-democrats-wanted-4-billion-in-election-assistance---they-got-400-million/#51edcbfe51f4" target="_blank">$400 million in elections assistance</a>, nowhere near the <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/estimated-costs-covid-19-election-resiliency-measures" target="_blank">$2 billion</a> the Brennan Center for Justice said would be needed and the $4 billion some lawmakers wanted.</p><p>Silver closed out the roundtable discussion with a call to action, saying it is on everyone watching the roundtable discussion to be "part of the solution in some ways," and called on people already involved to up their game.</p><p>RepresentUs has partnered with other organizations to push for more states to adopt systems modeled closely after the five states that now offer all-mail voting. The organization also offers resources for voters interested in getting involved in the movement, including a "<a href="https://represent.us/vote-home-covid19/?source=cr-li-f-20200402-unrig-webinar&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=li&utm_campaign=f&utm_content=20200402&utm_term=unrig-webinar" target="_blank">take action</a>" page with information they need to get started.</p><p>"One thing is certain," said Silver. "We must overhaul our elections and campaign finance laws in order to get better representation in government, stop this vicious cycle of partisan extremism and gridlock, and reverse the corruption and authoritarianism that are infecting this great democratic experiment of ours."</p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f49ff27925b98dccae03792b42a0e916"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rH5JesG97QM?start=105&rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Unrig Roundtable: Why Vote at Home Matters Now</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH5JesG97QM&feature=youtu.be&t=105" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p><br/></p><p><em>Visit </em><a href="https://ivn.us/" target="_blank"><em>IVN.us</em></a><em> for more coverage from Independent Voter News.</em></p><em><br/></em>
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