Dear John, Just days after narrowly avoiding a government shutdown, the House of Representatives is leaderless and scrambling to decide who should replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy. As the House lurches from one crisis to another, FairVote released a new analysis on how ranked choice voting (RCV) would help Congress function. Members would represent a broader group of voters – not just a “fraction of a fraction” of the electorate (for example, Rep. Matt Gaetz won his GOP primary in a hyper-partisan district with just 36% of the vote!). They would face electoral incentives to cooperate with each other – not to create chaos. RCV would also make speaker elections themselves faster and more representative, smoothly identifying a leader most House members can support. Thankfully, representatives are already recognizing the power of RCV to transform the body. Check out the latest from Reps. Jamie Raskin and Don Beyer on MSNBC.com: “There is a far better way to choose the speaker (and other key House leaders) than a series of simple majority ballots that can easily lead to capitulation to extremists. The alternative is ranked choice voting, which enables an instant runoff and certifies the winner who has the widest and deepest support.” |