Dear Friend --



We hope you are safe and well as our nation prepares for what is proving to be a historic election next Tuesday. Early data suggests unprecedented voter turnout <[link removed]>, with more than 70 million votes already cast early. This number is staggering even when considering Covid-19 precautions. If you haven’t made a plan to vote yet, we encourage you to do so today. Making a plan to vote improves the likelihood of casting a vote <[link removed]> and you deserve to have your voice heard this fall.



If you are still wondering about how to uphold safe and fair elections this fall, you’re not alone. We have a round-up of election resources <[link removed]> that address everything from various concerns around election security to ways you can participate to make our elections stronger. And if you’re feeling your congressional race isn’t giving you much choice, you’re not alone -- see our Monopoly Politics 2020 report <[link removed]>page where we projected close to nine in ten of this year’s U.S. House races within a week of the 2018 elections



Ranked choice voting (RCV) is also on the ballot in more locations than ever before in our nation’s history. If you live in one of these areas, we encourage you to vote for these ranked choice ballot measures:



- Alaska <[link removed]>: YES on 2 (enacts RCV for presidential, congressional & state elections)

- Albany, California <[link removed]>: YES on BB (enacts proportional form of RCV for local races)

- Bloomington, Minnesota <[link removed]>: YES on 3 (enacts RCV for mayor & city council)

- Boulder, Colorado <[link removed]>: YES on 2E (enacts RCV for mayor)

- Eureka, California <[link removed]>: YES on C (enacts RCV for mayor & city council

- Massachusetts <[link removed]>: YES on 2 (enacts RCV for state & congressional elections)

- Minnetonka, Minnesota <[link removed]>: YES on City Question (enacts RCV for mayor & city council)



Also, you have the option to use ranked choice voting in next week’s general election if you live in one of these regions:



- Maine (for president and U.S. Senate)

- Benton County, Oregon (for county commission, first use)

- Berkeley, California (for mayor and city council)

- Oakland, California (for city council and school board)

- San Leandro, California (for city council)

- San Francisco, California (for Board of Supervisors)

- Takoma Park, Maryland (for mayor and city council)

- Eastpointe, Michigan (city council special election)

- Portland, Maine (for city council and school board)



If you live in one of these areas and participated in a ranked choice voting election, please consider sharing a short testimonial <[link removed]> with our team. We are gathering testimonials from voters like you as we aim to bring ranked choice voting to other parts of the country. 



Click here to submit a testimonial and photo if you’d like. Share why you like having ranked choice voting in your area. <[link removed]>



We also have a few updates from our work over the last couple of months we’re thrilled to share with you:



RankedChoiceVotingFacts.com

Earlier this month, FairVote launched a new website <[link removed]> aimed at voters who are just learning about ranked choice voting for the first time. Our goal is to ensure Americans - particularly those considering voting for a ranked choice ballot - can learn quickly about the top arguments for RCV and our responses to opponents’ arguments against RCV.



<[link removed]>



This also meant creating an even shorter, more simple explainer video. This new video <[link removed]> aims to help voters learn about ranked choice voting in about 90 seconds.



We encourage you to share this site and video <[link removed]> with friends or family who may not know much about it. Be sure to tag us on Twitter (@FairVote), Facebook (@FairVoteReform), LinkedIn (Fair Vote), or Instagram (@FairVote) to answer any questions they may have about ranked choice voting.





Maine Poll

Yesterday, we broke the results of a SurveyUSA poll of Maine voters with the Bangor Daily News.  <[link removed]>



Findings and analysis from the poll can be found on FairVote’s website <[link removed]> with an interactive ranked choice voting simulation. This allows you to visualize what it’s like to eliminate the last-place candidate and see the redistributed second choices among all voters and key demographics. 



<[link removed]>



The survey found:



- Support for ranked choice voting grows. Large majorities of Mainers believe it is important that candidates win with a majority (75.4%) and that ranking candidates is easy (80.0%). All age groups showed high levels of understanding of ranked choice voting. 

- Sara Gideon currently holds a narrow lead. In the hotly-contested U.S. Senate race, Gideon starts with a small lead over Sen. Susan Collins in the first round, and expands her lead to 51% - 49% in the final “instant runoff” round. Results are within the survey’s margin of error. 

- Joe Biden is favored to earn at least 3 of 4 electoral votes. Maine will use ranked choice voting for the presidential election for the first time, with two electoral votes going to the statewide winner and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Biden has first-round majorities in the statewide tally and in the first congressional district. The second congressional district appears likely to need multiple rounds to determine a majority winner. In the survey’s ranked choice tally for the second district, Biden expands his 49% first-round total to a 51%-49% lead in the “instant runoff.” Donald Trump's only chance to win an electoral vote from Maine is to gain ground in the second district.

- Rankings vary by office. 57% of respondents indicated they plan to rank at least two choices in the senate race, but only 39% ranked presidential candidates. Supporters of the non-major-party candidates are most likely to rank additional choices, with at least 70% of this group using multiple rankings - as makes sense, given the major party candidates are sure to make the final instant runoff. The group least likely to rank is Trump supporters, only 29% of whom indicated a second choice.



For those who love even more data (and who doesn’t?), check out FairVote’s full report on the results <[link removed]>, including key findings, crosstabs, and ranked choice tallies.





RankIt.Vote

Ranked choice voting makes for better elections and a more representative democracy. It also makes for better decision-making as a group. 



To that end, FairVote has also released a 2.0 version of RankIt.Vote <[link removed]>, a web-based ranked choice voting app. Rankit.vote allows you to create your own polls for free, works on desktop, tablet and mobile devices, and has easy share options so you can share polls with friends. A new feature allows you to use the proportional voting forms of RCV that’s the fairest way to elect multiple winners. The more often people try ranked choice voting out for themselves, they are more likely to support it later, so encourage your friends and family to try ranked choice voting with a simple poll, like this one: Which is the best scary Halloween movie <[link removed]>?









Endorsements

Check out FairVote’s updated endorsements page <[link removed]> for an impressive list of prominent political, academic, and media voices who support ranked choice voting. From Nobel Prize winners to prominent Republicans and Democrats to Santa Claus (no, really), there has been a groundswell of support for voters to be able to rank candidates in order of preference.



FairVote’s team regularly is cited in the media, and it’s been gratifying to see how ranked choice voting has received powerful editorial support this season from papers like the Boston Globe <[link removed]> (MA), the Falmouth Enterprise <[link removed]>(MA), the Hill Country Observer <[link removed]>(NY), the Daily Camera <[link removed]>(CO) and the East Bay Times <[link removed]>(CA). If you don’t see your local newspaper listed <[link removed]> as having endorsed ranked choice voting and would like to compel them to take action, watch Communications Director Ashley Houghton’s guest webinar with FairVote Washington <[link removed]> earlier this year on how to write effective letters to the editor. There’s no more timely moment to compel your local newspaper to take a position in support of ranked choice voting!



<[link removed]>



Webinars

We continue to see hundreds of participants joining our webinar series, The Future of American Elections <[link removed]>. If you would like to watch a previous webinar, you can find them on YouTube:



- Friday, August 28: The Future of American Elections: Making Every Vote Count <[link removed]>, featuring FairVote communications fellow and author David Daley, author Neal Simon, former Utah State Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck, and author Joshua Douglas.

- Tuesday, September 15: The Future of American Elections: Innovating For A More Reflective Government <[link removed]>, featuring David Daley, author Daniel Newman and author Katherine Gehl.

- Thursday, October 1: The Future of American Elections: Redefining Representation for American Voters <[link removed]>, featuring David Daley, Harvard professor, political scientist and author Danielle Allen and Former two-term Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. 

- Tuesday, October 13:The Future of American Elections: The Yang Gang Is Ready For The End of Tactical Voting <[link removed]>, featuring FairVote president and CEO Rob Richie, David Daley and entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

- Tuesday, October 27: The Future of American Elections: The Conservative Argument for RCV <[link removed]>, featuring David Daley, Cato Institute senior fellow Walter Olson, attorney and FairVote board member Jennifer Nassour and Stan Lockhart of Utah RCV. 



And be sure to join us for the next webinar November 17, The Future of American Elections: Maine Leads With the First RCV Presidential General Election <[link removed]>, when FairVote senior policy coordinator Pedro Hernandez will interview executive director of the LWVME Anna Kellar, assistant professor at Colby College Carrie LeVan and Utah State Rep. Marc Roberts.



Lastly, thank you! Americans are participating in incredible numbers in the face of this year’s challenges, and reform and voting rights allies are doing heroic work in support of fair elections. We appreciate all the empowering acts of support for ranked choice voting this year, and look forward to working with you to ensure more voices are heard in future elections.



Best, 



Rob Richie

President and CEO

<[link removed]> <[link removed]>[link removed]



P.S. As an exclusive for our donors, FairVote staff will hold a pre-election briefing on Monday, November 2nd and post-election analysis on Thursday, November 5th. Please contact Jeremy Seitz-Brown at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> for details.







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