Ranked Choice Voting presentation by Ron Zimmerman of Rank MI Vote

September 14, 2023 presentation by Ron Zimmerman, member of the Board of Directors of Rank MI Vote (RankMiVote.org), an advocacy group promoting ranked choice voting in the state of Michigan.
In Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), voters rank candidates by preference on their ballot, marking their first, second and third choice for each office. If a candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes, she will be declared the winner. But if no candidate wins a majority of first choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. The second and third choice preferences of those who voted for the failed candidate are then distributed to the remaining candidates. A new tally is made to determine whether any candidate has now won a majority of the adjusted voters. This process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of votes cast.
Ranked Choice Voting is used in Alaska & Maine (for both federal and state elections) and in Hawaii for certain elections. In 15 states, some localities use RCV in municipal elections. In Michigan, RCV has been implemented in Eastpointe, adopted in Ferndale and under consideration in Royal Oak. Five states have banned use of RCV in statewide and local elections.
AAUW of Michigan thanks the Birmingham branch for organizing this timely and informative discussion!