The 21st century has ushered in a new era of American democracy that is characterized by polarization, gridlock, and growing resentment toward fellow citizens and government itself.
The American people are left to watch our political system become dysfunctional like a tragedy that one cannot take their eyes off of.
Many Americans are left in a state of pure apathy towards politics, feeling that every trip to the ballot box is a choice against a candidate who disgusts them rather than for a candidate who excites them. Our two-party system itself encourages this phenomenon; every campaign cycle, candidates spend millions of dollars to build campaigns based on villainizing their opponents, who almost always fall neatly under an opposing party banner.
There is a better way: ranked choice voting (RCV). Ranked choice voting is an electoral system in which voters can rank multiple candidates in order of preference rather than choosing only one. It has been shown to increase positivity and decrease negativity in campaigns. Adopting RCV is a necessary first step to relieve the tensions of polarization and electability politics.
One of the main purposes of RCV is removing the constraint of “electability” — the necessity for a major party’s candidate to be capable of winning the votes of moderates, some of whom may hold biased social views. For example, the common refrain of, “Is America ready to elect a woman President?” disappears under a system of RCV in which biased voters who may prefer a male candidate would likely, as their second choice, select a woman whose views they agree with. That candidate, if she were to win, would then receive the support of over 50 percent of voters.
This principle does not exist solely in the abstract. RCV has been shown to increase representation for women and people of color in public office. It is used in states and localities nationwide, and women are twice as likely to hold mayoral office in cities that use RCV to elect their mayors compared to those that do not. Additionally, in a sample of California cities, candidates of color became significantly more likely to win elected office with the enactment of RCV. Alaskans also recently elected Mary Peltola, the first woman and first Alaska Native to represent the state in the House of Representatives using RCV.
RCV also provides more opportunities for people who find themselves disengaged by the lack of candidates who share their political views to gain electoral representation. As polarization separates the two major parties — largely as a result of the Republican Party’s asymmetrical rightward shift — there is considerable evidence that states that use RCV for their statewide federal elections produce more moderate representatives than the average officeholder. The two states that currently use RCV for their federal elections are Maine and Alaska; these states claim Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the two most moderate Republicans in the Senate, as their Ssenators. Both women were elected far before RCV was enacted in their states, but Murkowski likely would have lost her job without an electoral system that rewards pragmatic dealmakers.
On the other hand, left-leaning voters who see the Democratic Party as too moderate may also benefit from RCV. While RCV has not appeared to change the ideological makeup of legislative bodies, it may provide the Left with a candidate that excites them out of electoral apathy, thus re-enfranchising a larger portion of the electorate. Multiple studies on localities that use RCV indicate a 10 percent increase in voter turnout, and RCV has also been demonstrated to increase youth voter turnout compared to localities with plurality voting systems. Thus, RCV may be a tool to democratize our electoral process by encouraging greater participation.
Some may question whether these problems of representation are applicable to Connecticut; but they are unfortunately as salient here as in any state. In 2020, women made up 50.9 percent of the state population but only 33 percent of the Connecticut General Assembly; white citizens made up 64 percent of the population and a striking 82 percent of the General Assembly.
Connecticut, it is time to forge a democracy that is based on active, rather than passive, consent of the governed. Democracy should aim for full participation and inclusion of all viewpoints and identities, and RCV does just that. Prior to his re-election in 2022, Governor Lamont promised to introduce a pro-RCV bill into the General Assembly; we must hold him to his word. To become a state that prioritizes representation for all and to breed excitement rather than apathy in our electoral system, RCV is Connecticut’s way forward.
Brook Smith is a member of Yale Students for Ranked Choice Voting.