Some proponents claim that ranked-choice voting is the clear will of the people. That claim is wishful exaggeration.
The 2016 referendum was approved by a small margin of those who voted. Approval by a small margin of those who voted means that almost as many were opposed.
As is the usual case in most elections, many people did not make an effort to vote. This means that approval by a small margin of those who voted is approval by much less than 50 percent of all registered voters. Furthermore, there was no meaningful debate on the proposal before the vote.
It seems that proponents of ranked-choice voting sincerely believe that there is a useful benefit in requiring all winners to have more than 50 percent of the vote (after artificial manipulation of votes). Somehow it does not seem right that an individual voter can vote for more than one candidate for a particular office.
Ranked-choice voting complicates elections for a small potential benefit of dubious value.
David W. Knudsen
Gray
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