By Guy Page
Ranked choice voting – A/K/A instant runoff voting and long a favorite of Vermont’s Progressive third-party politicians – is getting a strong push from powerful Vermont lobbying groups.
Ranked choice voting lets voters choose more than Supporters say it offers voters more than just a single choice. Critics say it unfairly favors third-party candidates.
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) “Better Ballot Vermont” initiative is running an advertising campaign in support of Ranked Choice Voting. An op-ed submitted by the League of Women Voters ran in yesterday’s Vermont Daily Chronicle.
“It’s time to bring ranked choice voting to Vermont,” says the headline on the VPIRG/Better Ballot Vermont advertisement now running on Front Porch Forum.
According to rankedchoicevt.com, here’s how ranked choice voting works: voters mark their ballots in order of preference for candidates. “If no candidate receives a majority of votes on the first round of counting, the votes are thereafter tabulated in rounds, with the lowest-ranked candidate eliminated in each round and the votes for that candidate transferred to the totals of each ballot’s highest-ranked continuing candidate (if applicable) until one candidate receives a majority of votes. The process is the same for multi-seat districts, with a majority vote election threshold based on the number of seats in the district.”
None of the three ranked choice voting bills in the Legislature, all sponsored by Progressives or independents with a smattering of backing from independent-leaning Republicans and Democrats, have been passed out of committee:
| H.236 | Ranked choice voting in primaries, sponsored by Rep. Laura Sibilia (I-Dover), Progressive Tanya Vyhovsky (Essex) and others, and referred to House Government Operations. | |
| H.352 | Allowing ranked choice voting in municipal elections, sponsored by Sibilia and Vyhovsky, and referred to House Government Operations. | |
| S.50 | Ranked choice voting, sponsored by Progressive Sens. Anthony Pollina (Washington), Chris Pearson (Chittenden), and Andy Perchlik (Washington). It was reviewed by the Senate Government Operations Committee last March, but has not been passed out of committee. |
The third-party orientation of the sponsors is no accident. Pearson told WCAX, “We are routinely the state that votes outside of the two parties more than any other. Our voting system doesn’t deal with that. It solves several problems.”
Categories: politics
The illegal mail-in ballots are not enough? They have to cheat – they have no other way and the money laundering will make sure they have enough cash to push it all through – crimes commited with impunity.
All I have to do is look at the protagonists of this type of change, and I come up with the question, why is his to their advantage ? You know they would not be pushing if it wasn’t, and their political goals are not ones that a conservative, or even a moderate/centrist would espouse. They’re just wackos !
This is so unfair to voters who want only ONE CANDIDATE. It is confusing, it is a tossing of the dice, it has been tried and rejected throughout the nation.
Stupid me, I thought that was why we had primaries .
Burlington tried this years ago. The result was the election of the single most corrupt and ineffective Mayor of the Queen City. Burlington Telecom got secret bail out payments, and it was a mess. No, let’s not elect people’s second or third choices!! Yes, he was a Progressive.
If you haven’t noticed yet the Dems/Progressives keep finding ways to change the way we elect people to allow for more cheating.
Laws restricting the ability to challenge elections – check
Media that only covers their side – check (except for the few fine institutions like vtdaily)
Mail in Ballots – check
Lack of identification or verification – check
Voting Ballot Boxes – check (no camera even required in VT)
Horrendously inflated voter rolls – check
More computerized equipment designed for cheating – incoming/check
Children able to vote – almost done
Ranked Choice Voting – working on it
Redistricting – working/cheating on it
Just think, the majority of that has happened in the last 10 years…. Condos is quitting because his job is done.
What I really want to know is who is actually funding these TV ads every night?? Where is that amount of money coming from? It certainly isn’t what these marxist’s claim as Vermonters don’t have that amount of money for such a minority opinion…Just like how welch amassed 2 million in his campaign!!
Of course you are right Jim. By following the money back to it’s origin, you will find who plans on benefiting from buying these election changes !
If these three, Balint, Pearson and Ram, and other progressive liberal democrats, are advocating for ‘Ranked Choice Voting,’ it can’t be good. The opportunities for voter fraud are rampant here…
Indeed!
Proven to be intentionally confusing and intentionally biased toward certain political parties, any use of this voting system disenfranchises ALL voters, which seems to be the intent of those supporting it.
Anything the left proposes is rank!
If PROGRESSIVES are for it, I’M against it !!!!!!
REMEMBER ……………… REMEMBER THE 8TH OF NOVEMBER!