By Rank the Vote

Amy Tobia of Represent.US (San Diego) talks about what is appealing to her about ranked choice voting

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Amy Tobia:

So from my standpoint, I start with the choice element because I feel that when you go to the ballot box in the general election, and there are two candidates on the ballot, that means that for the past six months, you've been watching these two individuals, sometimes people who worked together in the past, basically beat each other up just because they want to be seen as just a little better than the other person on the ballot.

Really, what elections should be about are talking about the issues of our community and the challenges that we face and throwing every possible solution on the table and having meaningful conversations about how we can get from point A to point B and how we can move our community forward. So with ranked choice voting and the top four or five approach where you have four or five candidates working to earn your support, it really is going to change the nature of our campaigns.

And it really is going to create a better civic process so that the voters are more inclined to participate. And the voters are essential in that civic process. So we want them to participate, and candidates are going to be listening to the voters in a very different way, because they know that they're not just chasing that single vote. They're chasing that second, third, and fourth ranking. So really when we talk about rank choice voting, I think it's not just about changing an election system. It's changing the way we engage civically during our campaign process. And that to me has the most appeal about the whole thing.