Ranked-choice voting is easy to understand when put into a perspective most people can identify with. Imagine that the teams who play in the next World Series are chosen by everyone who has purchased a stadium ticket during the past five years — which would be like being a registered voter — and you get to vote for as many teams as you want. The thought process for someone could be like this: “My favorite team is the Red Sox, so they will be my first choice. If they get the smallest number of votes and are eliminated then my second choice will be the Yankees. My vote will be added to all the other Yankee votes to see if that creates a majority in the second round. The votes of everyone whose team got the smallest number in the second round are eliminated, and their next team choice is added, and hopefully all the new Yankee votes when added together will create the majority. If the Yankees have the smallest number then that team is eliminated and my vote gets added to my third choice, the Cardinals.”

The number of rounds depends on how long it takes a team to gather enough votes to create a majority. This is different than today’s election process, where a candidate can win without receiving a majority vote — or in other words, most Maine voters would rather have chosen someone else to be a leader, but our two-party system has denied us that ability.

Ranked-choice voting will enable more people with new ideas, principles, and leadership styles to run for office — and make a change. This is how we disrupt the system and over time end “politics as usual.” The powers that be are fighting hard to stop us.

Brad Sherwood

Waterville


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