letter to the editor

Fearmongering of Senator Dow

Wed, 12/06/2017 - 9:45am

Dear Editor:

I read with interest Senator Dow's piece in the Nov 23 Register. I'll be upfront.  I support Ranked-Choice Voting and Medicaid expansion. I worked the polls to get signatures on the people's veto referendum and was so surprised at how many people were unclear on how ranked choice voting works, even after seven years in process.

In my mind RCV is a more democratic mechanism than what we now have.  With the large numbers running in the primaries for governor, using the system we now have,
someone could win a primary with only 15 percent of the vote.  Somehow that seems wrong to me. Let me explain again. Under RCV , the voters rank the candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gets a majority the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and the other candidates reallocated according to their rank until a candidate with a majority is secured.

It is not rocket science.  In relation to the one "man" one vote criticism, RCV actually makes your vote more democratic.  You can vote for the candidate you like not the one you think will beat the candidate you don't like. Candidates will be forced to speak to the issues not just spout party ideology because they know they will be ranked and rallying hardliners will not be enough to get them elected. As for the legal issue  RCV is legal for primaries and congressional elections.  The legislature has over and over again denied the people their voting choices.  It is time to work to implement RCV where it is legal and then work for a constitutional amendment that will make it legal for all our elections.  I personally want to see a representative or governor that has more than a 30 percent plurality.

People will be around with petitions so if you want to see RCV implemented, sign the people's veto petition.

Bonnie Ginger

Boothbay