You're listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We noted yesterday that Governor Ron Desantis just signed a bill which banned ranked choice voting in Florida. But ballot initiatives to implement RCV in Missouri and Nevada are picking up steam.

Ranked choice voting allows a voter to support a candidate they like but wouldn't otherwise win vs. the more likely candidate. This gives dark horse, independent or third party candidates a chance without the voter throwing a vote away. RCV often leads to more congeniality between candidates, particularly in primaries, because they have to appeal to a wider array of voters, not just to the extremes of their party. 

Ballotpedia reports that a pro ranked choice voting citizens initiative PAC in Missouri reported contributions of $4.3 million dollars as of March 31 as the initiative approaches a May 8th deadline for signatures. The Missouri proposal would use RCV in primaries to determine the top four candidates, which would all advance to the general election.

In Nevada, a similar PAC reports donations of $2.26 million dollars to fund the initiative's signature drive, which concludes June 21st. Nevada's proposal would advance the top 5 candidates out of the primaries. 

Visit AmericanDemocracyMinute.org to find links to the organizations behind these citizen initiatives, and learn more about RCV.

Fair Vote, a national resource on Ranked Choice Voting: 
Nevadans for Election Reform:  https://nevadansforelectionreform.org/
Better Elections Missouri:  https://betterelectionsmo.org/

Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we HAVE, it's something we DO.” For the American Democracy Minute, I'm Brian Beihl.