Ohio Wesleyan: "Could Ohio be Next to Adopt Ranked Choice Voting?"

Since 2016, citizens in Maine, Alaska, and Nevada have voted to switch their states’ elections to Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of picking just one. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, the least popular candidate is eliminated, and votes transfer to the next choice until one wins more than 50%, just like an instant runoff. This enables more parties and candidates to run—and more citizens to vote their conscience—without fear of vote-splitting or spoilers. Among other benefits, RCV can reduce polarization and extremism by incentivizing politicians to find common ground to win majority support. Could Ohio be next?

Monica Burke is the National Organizing Director with Rank the Vote and was the Statewide Organizer for Voter Choice Massachusetts, helping to organize voter contact and volunteer activities across the Commonwealth. She has served as a Campaign Manager and community organizer for candidates and various ballot questions, as well as led activist groups, especially ones which advocate for election reform. Monica earned degrees in Mathematics from Northeastern University (BS) and the University of Virginia (MS).

Kyle Herman is the Executive Director for Rank the Vote Ohio, which he helped establish as an educational nonpartisan nonprofit in 2020. Kyle's previous experience includes managing pro-democracy programs in Iraq and Lebanon for the National Democratic Institute and staffing President Obama as a writer in the White House Correspondence Office. He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University (Class of 2011) and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPP). While at OWU, Kyle ran track and cross country and served as Student Body President (WCSA).

This discussion is sponsored by the OWU Department of Politics and Government. The event is free and open to the public. More from Ohio Wesleyan's website: owu.edu/calendars/details/learn-about-rank-the-vote-ohio-with-owu-alum-kyle-herman-11/2022-12-06/