📩 People Power United joins coalition efforts in support of the Ranked Choice Voting Act

🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.

People Power United along other local, state, and national groups joined coalition efforts in support of the Ranked Choice Voting Act that will be introduced this week by Representative Raskin and Senator Welch. Shout out to these Congressional leaders for championing this effort.

Please contact your Representatives and Senator at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to co-sponsor the Ranked Choice Voting Act.

Here is the introduction letter sent to members of Congress:

 September 9, 2024

Cosponsor the Ranked Choice Voting Act

Cosponsors: Moulton

Endorsing Organizations:

National Organizations – FairVote Action, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, People Power United, Public Citizen, Rank the Vote, RepresentUs, RepresentWomen, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice

State and Local Organizations – Clean Elections Texas, Electoral Innovation Lab, FairVote Illinois, Fix Democracy First, Get Money Out – Maryland, NH Ranked Choice Voting, Rank My Vote Florida, Ranked Choice Boston, Ranked Choice Voting Maryland, SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce, UpVote Virginia, Vote Nevada, Voter Choice MA

Dear Colleague:

To defend political democracy, we need to fortify and improve it. One way to do that is by guaranteeing that all winners have majority support, while ensuring the voices of people in the political minority are heard and counted, too. Communities from Maine to California have promoted majority rule and minority voice by adopting ranked choice voting. To bolster these efforts, Senator Welch and I are introducing the Ranked Choice Voting Act, which would ensure our congressional elections are fairer, more positive, more efficient, and more representative.

The Ranked Choice Voting Act would require states to adopt ranked choice voting (RCV) in primary and general elections for Congress beginning in 2028. The bill would also authorize federal funding to help states implement this change, including adapting equipment if necessary and conducting voter education.

Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives more than half of the first choices, that candidate wins. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as ‘number 1’ have their votes counted for their next favored choice. This process continues until a candidate wins with more than half the votes. RCV ensures that winners are elected with majority popular support but without time-consuming and expensive runoff elections which have been proven to generate lower turnout.

RCV is already being used across the country and in a wide range of jurisdictions. As of February 2024, 50 jurisdictions have RCV in place for all voters in public elections, reaching approximately 13 million voters. This includes two states (Maine and Alaska), three counties, and 45 cities. Many more jurisdictions are on the path to implementing RCV, including Utah, which in 2018 authorized a pilot program to allow cities to use RCV in local elections.

Our legislation will ensure that candidates who are elected to Congress are the ones who have most successfully assembled a majority of voters. It will also lift up the voices of a much broader cross-section of the voting public, because voters who prefer less popular candidates in the first round of voting can still play a role in forging a majority for the ultimate winning candidate.

We urge you to join us in this pro-democracy effort by becoming an original cosponsor of the Ranked Choice Voting Act. To join as an original cosponsor, or if you have any questions, please contact Rachel Marshall in my office at Rachel.Marshall@mail.house.gov by COB September 11, 2024.

Very truly yours,

Jamie Raskin

Member of Congress

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People Power United is a group of community members that champions progressive values and power for the people. The 2024 election depends on us, and we are attempting to persuade people to vote for Freedom over Fascism. If you wish to support our efforts, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.