Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)
Community Forum & Discussion Sunday March 3rd, 2019 6pm-8pm
Ranked Choice Voting—Count Every Vote and Make Every Vote Count!
Please join the Green Party of Brooklyn for a community forum and discussion:
Will New York City adopt a new voting system that gives voters more choice and eliminates fear of “vote splitting”? Imagine an electoral system where voters have the freedom to choose candidates who share their vision, instead of the “least offensive” candidate.
RCV is that system!
The New York City Council Charter Revision Commission is exploring the use of RCV. Public hearings begin in early spring.
The Green Party is prepared to help New Yorkers learn more about RCV and to advocate for its use in all New York City elections.
What is RCV? How does it work? Why is it better?
RCV is a fair representation voting system where voters maximize the effectiveness of their vote by ranking candidates in single-and multi-seat districts. RCV gives like-minded voters the chance to win legislative seats in proportion to their share of the population, unlike this country’s current system of winner-take-all elections, which awards 100% of power to a 50.1% majority of voters. Australia and Ireland as well as U.S. cities like Minneapolis and Cambridge use ranked choice voting to elect their governments. The State of Maine also recently elected to use RCV for all future elections.
Although RCV alone will increase voter choice, the Green Party believes that true democratization of elections also means breaking the two-party stranglehold through proportional representation (PR), which often works in conjunction with RCV. PR is less likely to be addressed by the upcoming charter revision hearings. However, it is important to include it within the discussion. PR previously existed in NYC elections from 1938 to 1947. It was abolished largely from pressure by the Democrats who wanted to prevent any further City Council wins by Communists and Socialists.
Join us to:
*Learn about RCV and proportional representation *Prepare for public testimony* Build a movement for democratizing elections*
When: Sunday, March 3rd, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Where: The Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Contact: Gloria at gloria@gpbk.com or at (917) 886-4538
Speakers: Green Party, Fair Vote, others TBA