This week’s Tuesday Night Lane Lyceum featured an informative presentation and discussion with Jim Henderson, General Counsel and Treasurer of the Yes on 2 campaign, non-partisan, citizen-organized campaign to introduce Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to Massachusetts, which is on the ballot in this year’s election.
A YES on 2 vote supports the use of RCV for primary and general elections for state and federal offices beginning in 2022, not including presidential or municipal elections.
In Ranked Choice Voting, instead of just voting for one candidate, a voter can rank as many candidates as they wish, in the order of their preference. In order to win the election, a candidate must earn over 50% support from the voters.
It’s interesting to note that in last month’s 4th Congressional District primary, Jake Auchincloss won with only 22.4% of the vote. Jim also pointed out that the next four candidates – all women – totaled over 60% of the total vote. There’s no way of knowing if the outcome would have changed with RCV, but it would be guaranteed that the winner would have received over 50% of the vote.
Ranked Choice Voting and the YES on 2 campaign have been endorsed by top State politicians, including two former governors (Weld, Patrick), two current Senators, eight current congresspeople, and many more.
Jim’s presentation is available in this PDF
To view Elizabeth Warran and Maura Healey discuss and endorse Ranked Choice Voting, view the video at this YouTube link: Elizabeth Warren Explains Ranked Choice Voting (with Maura Healey)
For more on the Yes on 2 campaign, visit www.yeson2rcv.com.
The recording of Tuesday’s Lyceum is available here (Access Passcode: UUNeedham_1711)