| Paul Bass | New Haven Independent |
A bill now before the legislature, SB 386, would allow Connecticut cities and towns to use ranked choice in municipal elections and parties to use it for primaries and conventions. The General Administration and Elections (GAE) Committee passed it earlier this month. Now advocates are working to convince the Senate to take it up.
More positive issue-based campaigns
Winter and Alden Okoh-Aduako, chair of Yale Students for Ranked Choice Voting, argued during an appearance Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program that the system encourages candidates to run positive issue-oriented rather than personal-attack campaigns so they won’t alienate supporters of other candidates who might rank them second or third.
“More choice, more voices,” Winter summed it up.
“When you give voters the ability to not have to pick between [the] lesser of two evils, when you give voters the ability to express their honest preferences and when candidates are running more positive issue-based campaigns, you see more people engaged in the civic process,” Okoh-Aduako argued.