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senator and two congressional representatives using ranked-choice voting. That includes Maine, where voters in November elected a U.S.

Under the present system, Davis said, voters too often are left feeling disenfranchised if their candidate doesn’t win, particularly if big money fuels a campaign.Īdditionally, proponents of ranking say candidates are less likely to engage in ugly or negative campaigning if they know they have a chance at being a voter’s second or even third choice.Īlthough the application of ranked-choice voting would be a first in Clark County, it’s not a novel idea - or practice - in pockets and broader regions elsewhere in the country. The result, proponents say, is the candidate with the most widespread support wins, which, in turn, results in a truer representative democracy.ĭavis said one reason for her support for ranked-choice voting is the “winner-take-all” approach is divisive and discouraging. The redistribution process continues until one candidate secures a clear margin. Then, if no one candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the subsequent second choices of the ousted candidate’s supporters are redistributed among the remaining candidates. Rather, with ranked choices, voters indicate their first, second, third and so-on preferences for candidates vying for a single office. Unlike the current system, which election officials commonly refer to by using a horse-racing term, “first-past-the-post,” voters in elections employing ranked choices don’t cast a single vote resulting in the person garnering the most votes being declared winner. “It makes your vote matter,” Battle Ground resident Melanie Davis said of ranked-choice voting, which she has embraced since her teenage son introduced her to concept three years ago with a YouTube video. Despite this November’s anomaly, when nearly 70 percent of eligible voters in Clark County cast ballots, voter turnout remains a significant concern, particularly in midterm elections, where commonly one of out every two eligible voters turns out locally. Proponents of ranked-choice voting - one of a handful of alternates to our present system - say the option would go a long way in boosting voter turnout.

With the general election behind us, there is renewed support for changing the way we vote in Clark County and beyond with a system proponents say would allow voters to mark their ballots without having to hold their noses.