Friends,

A new year is underway, and FairVote is ready and re-energized to seize new opportunities and newly advance better elections and better government for the American people. 

2025 will be the year of ranked choice voting (RCV) empowering voters in cities. This will include hotly contested, high-profile primaries in New York City, and closely watched mayoral races in Minneapolis and Oakland. There will also be exciting first-time uses in Redondo Beach, CA; Broomfield and Fort Collins, CO; and Charlottesville, VA. 

This is our time. Millions of Americans will use a ranked ballot, some for the first time. These elections will show once again how ranked choice voting delivers on its promise: more choice and greater say for American voters who feel unheard and unseen, and are tired of picking the lesser of two evils. Less toxic and more issues-focused campaigns that American voters crave. Improved incentives for candidates and elected officials – who are newly encouraged to listen to and deliver for the majority of their constituents. 

Every new RCV election is an opportunity to break out our movement’s not-so-secret weapon: Americans like ranked choice voting. Whenever voters who have ranked choice voting are asked, the response is clear: They know it’s easy to use. They know how it empowers them and improves their elections. It’s no surprise that, in 2024’s state ballot measures, RCV performed best in counties where it is already the norm. This reform works.  

At FairVote this year, our work in cities – as well as in state capitals and with political parties – will connect the dots between voter frustration and the need for election reform. We will help local leaders lay that groundwork, too – winning reforms that make our government responsive to voters’ needs.

This work won’t be easy. It never is, with entrenched interests and an increasingly well-organized opposition seeking to preserve the status quo and block reform at every turn – precisely because they know RCV works, too. But we can (and will) win: Eight times more Americans live in communities with RCV than did just eight years ago. That number will continue to grow. 

We’re building up our presence on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures, and we will be working with the new governments in Washington and state capitals across the country.

A new administration also means a new opportunity to harness voter energy. Americans are looking for solutions beyond red and blue, whether they are unhappy with specific policy outcomes or simply tired of a political system that maximizes drama and minimizes elected leaders’ ability to get things done. 

Just look at 2018 and 2022, when focus shifted from presidential politics toward unprecedented momentum for structural reform. Several citizen-driven, pro-democracy ballot measures won – and won big –  at the city and state level. These inspiring 2018 efforts – most notably, a successful citizens redistricting effort in purple Michigan – are captured brilliantly by FairVote’s David Daley in his book, Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy.  

With your continued support, our team and our movement can replicate those successes –  lifting up the everyday Americans who are making change happen in 2025, and beyond. We will use this critical year to build our movement and the foundation for reform – setting the stage to win new adoptions of RCV in cities and states across the country, and most importantly, sustain those wins over the long term. 

Join us by investing in our work as we drive toward better representation and government for all. This is the year to return our politics and governance to the American people, and FairVote will be here to capitalize on every opportunity.

Onward with thanks,

Meredith Sumpter
FairVote President and CEO

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