Hello San Juan County Democrats,
One of the political reforms that would really help our political system is ranked choice voting. Please read the following from Liz Smith of Fair Vote Washington, who will be presenting on our three major islands:
“Our non-partisan non-profit FairVote Washington is working to bring Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) to Washington state. RCV is a simple, non-partisan way to help put power back into the voters’ hands, increase civility in politics, and improve our democracy. It’s also an effective way to lower primary and run-off elections costs. And we’d like to show you how it works!
RCV is also sometimes called Instant Runoff Voting, which says a lot about how it works. On a ranked-choice ballot, instead of voting for one candidate, you would get to rank the candidates in your order of preference: 1, 2, 3, and so on. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the first place votes, the last place candidate is eliminated. If that was your candidate, your vote is transferred to your second choice. That process of elimination continues until one candidate has a majority and is declared the winner. (A candidate can still win on the first round with an outright majority, and voters can still vote for one candidate, if they prefer.)
The WA Local Options Bill (HB1722 and SB5708) would allow localities to try Ranked-Choice Voting. We’ll tell you all about that and our other efforts at three upcoming presentations on Orcas, Lopez, and San Juan Islands. All are welcome, regardless of party or political views. Local FairVote Washington lead Liz Smith of Friday Harbor and FairVote Washington Chair Lisa Ayrault will be there. Let us answer your questions about this simple, non-partisan voting reform!
Sunday, January 12 from 2pm-3pm at the Orcas Island Odd Fellows Hall
Our event page: https://secure.everyaction.com/aian00iQIUK9xnJbU6oT9Q2
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/795106250953763
Sunday, January 12 from 7pm-8pm at the San Juan Island Grange Hall #966
Our event page: https://secure.everyaction.com/-zL2kUDHDk-BNRkiGVwrtg2
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/883249492077298
Monday, January 13 from 7pm-8pm at the Huddle Lopez mtg at the Lopez Island Golf Club
Our event page: https://secure.everyaction.com/4c2IyXOM2EGHVDkUVBt7GA2
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/514079569190134
For more info or questions, you can contact Liz Smith at liz.smith@fairvotewa.org, (360) 610-7136