Ranked choice voting may be a solution to our polarized politics
Alaska and Maine already use RCV for their presidential elections. Pennsylvania should follow suit.
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.
Alaska and Maine already use RCV for their presidential elections. Pennsylvania should follow suit.
Proposition 1 would override a 2023 law prohibiting RCV and enact it in Idaho.
The council is backing a proposed New Jersey law that would allow towns to offer ranked choice voting in local elections.
Supporters of ranked choice voting will be kicking off a statewide tour next week.
The legislation would require ranked choice voting in all congressional primary and general elections starting in 2028.
If the state bill passes, Princeton voters may see a local ranked choice voting referendum on ballots in November.
Charlottesville City Council approved the use of ranked choice voting for its June 2025 council primary.
If passed by voters, a greater portion of the electorate will have a meaningful voice in taxpayer-funded elections.
Candidates from all parties run would against each other, followed by a ranked choice voting general election.
Ranked choice voting systems are already in place for some races in Alaska, Maine, and cities like Minneapolis and New York City.
The city is poised to be only the second locality in all of Virginia to adopt the election model.
Arlington first adopted the method last year, following a change in state law granting local governments permission to do so.