Benefits of Ranked Choice Voting

By Don Vandervelde, Gig Harbor

Democracy is important enough for us to deserve to have the trouble taken to employ the best, and most thorough, of available methods. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is that method. Let's review the bidding.

1) It (RCV) preserves the vital right of political parties to offer the candidates of their own choice; unlike the "top-two" alternative.

2) It allows voters a broader selection of all parties' candidates.

3) It takes power from the big parties, and gives more power to each voter to help the candidates the voter likes, regardless of party.

4) It eliminates the "wasted vote" problem, by allowing a voter to express his preference for a minor party's candidate, while preserving that vote for his favorite major party.

5) And certainly not least, it eliminates the need for preliminaries and run-off elections, making a shorter campaign season, saving time, money, yard signs, and aggravation for all of us.

As we all get more used to its advantages and the process, we'll come to depend on its virtues and elections will run smoothly. Folks who don't, won't, or can't understand the process, can always just vote once for their first choice candidate as they always have, and it will still be counted. as it always has been.