On Thursday, the third-in-the-nation Virgin Islands Republican caucus will use
ranked choice voting. Donate Today!


Dear John,

On Thursday, the third-in-the-nation Virgin Islands Republican presidential
caucus will useranked choice voting(RCV). The contest is putting eyes across the
nation on RCV!Read on for more about:

* RCV in the Virgin Islands
* Anew bookabout primaries
* Our2023 RCV year in reviewreport

RANKED CHOICE VOTING IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Although the Republican presidential primary is down to just two major
candidates, the Virgin Islands caucus ballot willinclude the namesof candidates
who have already dropped out. In states with choose-one primaries, many voters
“waste” their vote on such a candidate – 700,000 Republicanscast these “zombie
votes”in 2016, and 3 million Democrats did so in 2020. RCV solves this problem
and makes more votes count:If a voter’s 1st-choice candidate drops out, their
vote simply counts for their second choice.

RCV is a big win for voters and candidates alike! More candidates can stay in
the race instead ofbeing pressuredto drop out before the vast majority of voters
have a chance to weigh in! Voters can safely rank their favorite candidate
first, knowing their vote will still count for a backup choice if their top
choice can’t win.

RCV strengthens party nominees by rewarding candidates who reach out to more
voters and make fewer personal attacks on fellow candidates. Both major parties
have a history of success with RCV for nominations, including Republicans using
it to nominate theirstatewide ticket in Virginiain 2021. Those nominees swept
all three seats, led by now-Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Wondering when to expect results? The Virgin Islands Republican caucus RCV count
should be released shortly after ballots have been collected from all three
voting sites (one on each major island), with the results shared around 7:30
p.m. Atlantic (6:30 Eastern) on Feb. 8.

FairVote will post an analysis of the results, so keep an eye onour website
Thursday night!

BEYOND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS REPUBLICAN CAUCUS
Our friend Nick Troiano, executive director at Unite America and an important
leader in the reform movement, is releasing a new book this month!

The Primary Solution: Rescuing our democracy from the fringesexamines how only a
small fraction of voters wind up deciding the vast majority of our elections –
and proposes a bold structural solution to give Americans more power, regardless
of their political party. You canpre-order it now!

We’re also very excited to share ourRCV year in reviewreport, which highlights
major wins for RCV in 2023! Those wins include the 24 jurisdictions – home to 10
million people – that used RCV in 2023, seven cities that voted YES on RCV, and
six states that passed RCV legislation.

The Virgin Islands Republican caucus is only the beginning: Let’s make 2024 the
best year yet for RCV!

Sincerely,
Deb Otis
FairVote Director of Research and Policy

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