I am writing to encourage everyone to vote yes on Question 5, a proposal to use a ranked choice voting system to elect our governor and state legislators. In seven of the last 11 elections for governor the winner (both Democrats and Republicans) has won the election without receiving the votes of the majority of voters.

I believe it is a good thing that so many people are interested in serving in public office, but when we have more than two candidates in an election, there is a high likelihood that the winner will not have a majority of the votes. Ranked choice voting does not favor any candidate. Rather, it allows us, the voters, to rank our choices of those who are running and use those choices to achieve a majority winner.

If one candidate gets the majority (more than half) of the votes, they win. If no one gets a majority, then the person who gets the least votes is eliminated. Then the votes of the people who voted for that person are counted for the candidates they listed as their second choice. If one candidate now has a majority they win. This process continues until a candidate has a majority of the votes.

Only we decide which candidates we will vote for. We can list one candidate or rank some or all of the candidates as we choose.

The League of Women Voters has endorsed rank choice voting as a fair and unbiased way to run elections. In places where it is used, it promotes better manners in candidates and encourages them to listen to and speak to all voters. Please exercise your right to vote and vote yes on 5.

Jane Pringle

Windham