At Thanksgiving, we decided that in addition to family, friends, and health, we were thankful for the election finally ending. As we close a turbulent and expensive campaign season, we need to reflect on where we are in our democracy and ask, “Are we OK with the status quo, or are we going to stand up and not take this anymore.”
In the new year, we should all work for a better democracy, one that is representative of all people. One that, like the Founding Fathers urged, is “of the people, by the people.”
To do that, though, we need a better voting system. One that is fairer, with more than just two options. Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is the way forward. RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, so if your first choice doesn’t get many votes, perhaps your second choice will. Under our current system, we often feel stuck with the “lesser of two evils” where we have to vote for an “OK” candidate who we think can win, rather than the good candidate we actually like.
Some people protest that RCV is confusing, but it really is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Pick the candidates you want, rank some or all, and vote for who you want without wasting your vote!
Let us all work toward a more representative democracy and improve our system before we get to the next presidential madhouse.
Diane Gordon
Lynnwood
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