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Bill drafted to allow Ranked Choice Voting in Michigan December 23, 2018
Ranked Choice Voting is a voting system that allows voters to indicate not only their first pick for an office, but second and third as well. In races where there are three or more candidates, it guarantees that the most popular candidate wins. As I wrote in a March 31 story, it likely would have prevented the victory of Karen Spranger in the Republican primary for Macomb County clerk in 2016. She won with 29.9% of the vote, went on to win the general election, and - after two years of mayhem - was removed from office by a judge on a technicality (she didn't live in Macomb County).
RCV guarantees that candidates can’t win unless they’re supported by a majority of voters, while allowing guilt-free voting for independent or third-party candidates, or any candidate the voter likes but knows has little chance of winning. Since voters can mark a second and third choice, votes for the long-shot do no harm and the presence of more than two candidates in a race would no longer affect the result.
A bill has been drafted to define RCV ballot instructions for Michigan municipalities that choose to adopt and implement RCV. You can read it here. Back in 2004, the city of Ferndale passed a charter amendment adopting a form of single winner RCV, but didn't put it into practice due to incompatible voting equipment. That barrier no longer exists: voting equipment throughout the state can now handle RCV. However, some state officials say state election law dictates what's allowed to be on a ballot and instructions for filling out a ranked ballot aren't there. To eliminate that deficiency, the organization FairVote has drafted legislation using best practices learned from municipalities that use RCV around the United States. Some modifications were made by the Ferndale city clerk and then it was sent on to Lansing city clerk Chris Swope, who made further modifications. “I’d like the end result to be that other communities don’t have to take up our same prolonged battles,” said Ferndale city clerk Marne McGrath. They’ve waited patiently for over 14 years now. State representatives Martin Howrylak (R) and Jon Hoadley (D) had planned to co-sponsor the bill during the lame duck session but that didn’t happen. "The powers that be have a vested interest in protecting the status quo, so this will be a huge fight," said Howrylak. If introduced, those “powers” might’ve drafted an alternate bill to prohibit the use of RCV or perhaps more - like attempting to repeal the Home Rule Cities Act. “It is deeply frustrating,” Howrylak added.
Rep. Hoadley said he wants to wait until the 100th Legislature begins in January, 2019. He'd like to review the measure in consultation with the new Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson. Newly-elected Lansing area state representatives Sarah Anthony and Kara Hope both support RCV.
Although many cities around the U.S. have adopted RCV, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Fe and elsewhere, only Maine has done so for state and federal level offices. That happened just this year, and - according to this story in The Atlantic - Maine citizens had to overrule the legislature to get it done.
Spearheading the effort locally is Hugh McNichol IV, co-founder of the Lansing chapter of Represent.US. You can reach him at hugh.mcnichol@gmail.com. Hugh contributed generously to this story.
Send comments, questions, and tips to stevenrharry@gmail.com, or call or text me at 517-505-2696. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a new story, let me know.
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