Ranked-Choice Voting (No More BiPolar Politics)

Ranked-choice voting is an electoral system being adopted more and more in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If their number #1 candidate does not win the majority, their vote isn't 'lost' - instead their vote moves to the second candidate on their list. This not only allows for the final winning party to have majority support, but removes the incentive for political parties to consolidate down to just two polar opposites (which ends in "us vs. them", whoever puts more fear of the opposition wins over voters emotions) and instead allows more independent people and parties to join and have an impact.

List of positives over our current system:

Promotes majority support - The voting continues until one candidate has the majority of votes, so the final winner has support of the majority of voters.  

Discourages negative campaigning - Candidates who use negative campaigning may lose the second choice vote of those whose first choice was treated poorly.

Provides more choice for voters - Voters can vote for the candidate they truly feel is best, without concern about the spoiler effect.

Minimizes strategic voting - Instead of feeling compelled to vote for ‘the lesser of two evils,” as in plurality voting, voters can honestly vote for who they believe is the best candidate.

Saves money compared to running primary elections (to narrow the field before the general election) or run-off elections (to chose a final winner after a general election, if no candidate has a majority, and if the law requires a majority for that office). With ranked-choice, the result can be obtained with one ballot.

Provides an outcome more reflective of the majority of voters than either primaries (get extreme candidates “playing to their base”) or run-off elections (far lower turnout for run-off elections, typically).

Learn more here: https://ballotpedia.org/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)

and here: https://my.lwv.org/vermont/article/pros-and-cons-instant-runoff-ranked-choice-voting

Let's lead Bermuda away from American politics and into a fairer and less polarized future we are all engaged with!