Are you for or against ranked choice voting? Why?

I am for it. It ultimately presents the least objectionable candidate. I think it would really temper the extremes and possibly even break down limited party systems to free up more electoral choices.

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bijouxbroussard · F

I [b]hate[/b] it, because we have it. I’ve seen someone get in office that [b]nobody[/b] really wanted and who didn’t do very well. I’ve also seen it discourage people from voting, which is never good. Ranked-choice voting has effectively suppressed the vote among certain groups. People in the South would be impressed. 😳

ViciDraco · 36-40, M

@bijouxbroussard really? Is it not possible to just not rank people you don't like? I could this being a problem if you had to rank all candidates.

somedude15 · 22-25, M

@bijouxbroussard isn't that kind of good, in a way? You lost the election, but you also didn't get someone you couldn't stand. Hence, "nobody" really wanting them. But also "nobody" really mad they won. On a federal level I definitely would've preferred anything in place of the disaster Trump was. I'm sure a lot of Trumpers would've also been content if Trump lost but instead they got someone who wasn't "that bad". In my opinion ranked choice voting helps with bipartisanship. If your favorite candidate wants to win, then they have to be extremely popular.

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somedude15 · 22-25, M

@bijouxbroussard huh? What question lol. I might've missed it

bijouxbroussard · F

@ViciDraco It hasn’t worked well locally. If you only like one of the candidates, you’re still obliged to choose two others that you dislike least. It’s been a mess. And as I said, some people have stopped voting because of it, which screws us.

bijouxbroussard · F

@somedude15 Again, I’m so sorry. There are a couple of cities in the Bay Area that use it, so it’s not used for gubernatorial elections, But it has proven contentious in our mayoral elections, with nobody being particularly happy with the results.

ViciDraco · 36-40, M

@bijouxbroussard I guess I do not understand why in a three way race, reassigning your vote to the lesser of two remaining evils is a bad thing. Without the ranked choice, your favored candidate would still probably lose, wouldn't they?

I am not saying you are wrong. I haven't ever lived there. Just trying to understand what the benefit of the forced binary actually offers over ranked choice. My largest problem with electoral politics in the US today is that I have only Republicans and Democrats to reasonably vote for. I want to vote for Greens, but more important to me is making sure Republicans do not win. So I'm kind of forced to cast my vote Democrat. Which hides how popular Green policies might be. Ranked choice, they'd at least see how popular policies are and other parties might actually lean more on that direction.

But maybe when it comes to mayors it really doesn't work?