Talk of Ranked Choice Voting Surfaces Near Long Island
An alternative form of voting in elections has spread across the country, and is making its way to New York. In New York City, residents will be voting on whether or not Ranked Choice voting should be implemented in future local elections; along with other voting proposals.
What is Ranked Choice Voting?
Ranked Choice Voting itself is a seemingly complicated process, but there is a central agenda at its’ roots. In the simplest form, RCV is when a voter ranks all potential candidates in order of preference. If there is a majority winner of first preferences, then the voting is over. If not, the process continues with the second preference and eliminating the least preferred candidate.
While the new process may appear to be convoluted and tricky to comprehend; the main premise is to make sure everyone’s vote counts. Since RCV is only voted on by state it can be used for local elections, and even senators and representatives.
Voters’ take sides
There is no talk currently from local government on Long Island to propose RCV to the public, but citizens have a mixed knowledge of the alternative voting. Michael Ringel from New Hyde Park, has heard about RCV, and thinks it could have a positive impact on elections.
“There’s no downside to it in my opinion. All it does is it gives more voice to other people in a two-party [or] three-party system… Having that wider range gives people more ideas on what is right for the country,” said Ringel.
There are others who do not see the positives to the alternative voting plan, however.
“I do not believe that is really democracy. The way we have always voted works just fine,” said Ellen Andrasick, who resides in Garden City.
Andrasick also believes everyone has the chance to vote for who they want, and if they lose then it’s final. This is the main criticism against RCV, which allows those who picked the least ranked candidate to have a second chance vote to shift the election.
Background of RCV
RCV is fairly new and unknown in the country. According to Ballotpedia, nine states contain jurisdictions which implement RCV. There are also three states that have passed RCV but have yet to implement it in elections. As of now Maine is the only state to use RCV on a federal level, as it was implemented to decide the Governor in the 2018 elections.
This year, New York City will vote whether or not to implement Rank Choice Voting in future elections, Long Islanders will look on and begin to wonder if it is time for a change in their own voting system.
