Royal Oak High School senior wins 2nd place for voting-focused documentary
ROYAL OAK — Royal Oak High School senior Sarah Barnett won second place for her work on a documentary titled “Is Ranked Choice the Right Choice?
This is a beautiful and compelling story about what the People can do. Against all odds, the people in Maine force the politicians to listen. If only “as Maine goes, so goes the Nation”! —Lawrence Lessig
From Maine to New Mexico, citizens across America are clamoring for free and fair elections through Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Our story unfolds as voters organizing to enact the reform face fierce pushback from establishment politicians. The film looks at the historical rise, fall, and rebirth of RCV in the United States and abroad, and embed viewers in the front line of the battle raging over voters’ rights.
Through a ballot measure in November 2016, the citizens of Maine voted to become the first state in the nation to use Ranked Choice Voting statewide for federal and state elections. One year later, the legislature and governor moved to kill the bill, claiming it was unconstitutional. However, the people have final say through a process called the People’s Veto. Now they have 90 days to collect over sixty thousand signatures in the depth of the Maine winter. Will they succeed?
Enlivened with colorful hand-drawn animation, The Battle for Ranked Choice Voting follows Maine’s story, drops in on cities like Memphis, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Santa Fe that have adopted Ranked Choice Voting, and takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of non-plurality systems dominant throughout the world. Follow this citizen uprising to restore our failing democracy!
Shondra was main editor of Errol Morris' Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, and films by filmmakers Jocelyn Glatzer and Tom Curran.
ROYAL OAK — Royal Oak High School senior Sarah Barnett won second place for her work on a documentary titled “Is Ranked Choice the Right Choice?
The bill would give local units of government the option to pursue ranked choice voting.
A bill that advanced in a Minnesota House committee would give more cities the greenlight to implement ranked choice voting.
Make All Votes Count DC proposed the ballot measure, known as Initiative 83.
Make All Votes Count DC needs to collect 30,000 signatures by July 8 to qualify for the November ballot.
Not only has RCV been adopted in many dozens of cities and states in recent years, it is also helping with diversity.
With ranked choice voting, candidates will more closely align with the majority of voters, and hopefully reduce divisiveness.
Oklahoma should follow the example of states that have used ranked choice voting, empowering military members and their families to vote.
Less than a third of the electorate voted in the March 5 election.
Look past the red carpet and the acceptance speeches — and think about improving our elections with ranked-choice voting.
The bill aimed at ending Utah’s ranked choice voting pilot program failed to pass the legislature on the second-to-last day of the session.
Arlington's adoption of ranked choice voting signals a shift in democratic processes.