For many Americans, October is a month for monsters, candy, and fall foliage.
For FairVote, it’s time to make the most of opportunities in the November’s
elections. Dear John,
For many Americans, October is a month for monsters, candy, and fall foliage.
For FairVote, it’s time to make the most of opportunities in the November’s
elections. Pleasemake a plan to vote, if you’re eligible, and here are some of
the key races and stories where we’re tracking: Voting Reform on the Ballot
This year more jurisdictions are voting onranked choice voting(RCV) ballot
measures than ever before. The 10 measures include a statewide referendum on
Final Five RCVin Nevada, plus city and county measures everywhere from Maine to
the largest cities in Oregon and Washington. FairVote Action hasmore information
on all of them.
This month we took a deep dive into Evanston, Illinois’s RCV ballot measure to
kick off our fall webinar series! We were lucky to be joined by Evanston Mayor
Daniel Biss, Andrew Szilva of FairVote Illinois, and Brian Bosire of FairVote
Minnesota to discuss what RCV would mean for the city and the state. You can
find the full recordingon our YouTube channel.
Keep an eye out for an invitation to join our Ready, Set, Vote: Ballot Measures
in 2022 webinar, coming up in late October. Hear from panelists in Washington
and Oregon about RCV ballot measures in those states and ways you can help them
win!
We’re also paying attention to the 6 otherstatewide voting reform ballot
measures around the country. They include Oregon, where voterswill decidewhether
legislators who miss too many session days will be barred from re-election;
Michigan, where residents are voting onsweeping changesto elections that include
a constitutional right to vote without intimidation; and FairVote’s home state
of Maryland, where voters have the option tostrengthenthe requirement for
legislators to reside in their districts. The Great Alaska Rematch

Alaska made historyin August as the first state to use ‘Final Four RCV’ to pick
a member of Congress. Democrat Mary Peltola had a come-from-behind win, thanks
to embracing RCV, running a positive campaign, and picking up lots of second
choice support after Republican Nick Begich was eliminated.

In less than a month, there will be a rematchfor that seat, once again featuring
Peltola, Begich, and Republican Sarah Palin - plus one new candidate,
Libertarian Chris Bye. This time the polls show that Peltola might win
re-election with majority support in the first round, but we won’t know until
all the votes are counted.

RCV will also be used this year to elect Alaska’s Governor,U.S. Senator, and
statelegislatorsin a slew of hotly contested races that will of course be won by
a representative mix of candidates from across the spectrum.
Will Senate control come down to another Georgia runoff?

Control of the U.S. Senate is a toss-up this year, and there’s a real chance it
will come down to a holiday season runoff in Georgia for the 2nd cycle in a row.
The latest polling averagesshow Senator Raphael Warnock just shy of 50% support,
with Libertarian Chase Oliver earning several points as well.
FairVote and Third Way have studiedrunoff elections extensively. The data is
clear: runoffs almost always have lower turnout than the initial election,
especially among working class voters and people of color, making the
electorates and outcomes less representative. They can also cost millions of
dollars by duplicating costs for administrators and equipment. RCV accomplishes
the same goal of majority rule without either drawback - and avoids what could
be another billion dollars in campaign spending if the runoff might determine
control of the Senate in 2023.
The latest research: fair maps are possible!


Gerrymandering went into overdrivethis year. In somepast redistricting processes
the number of contested seats has increased for at least one cycle, but this
year the number of competitive House districts plummeted, meaning fewer
Americans will decide which party controls Congress - take a look at ourMonopoly
Politics reporton how straightforward it is to project winners without any
knowledge of campaign spending or representatives’ voting records. Lots of
incoming members will enter office unpopular, having won primaries in crowded
fields even while most members of their own party didn’t want them.
As bad as gerrymandering is, it’s also easy to fix! Our partners at FairVote
Action drew fair maps for every state in the country by using multi-member
congressional districts. Browse the mapto see how they did it and what your
state could look like!
RCV makes the news
Editorial boardsjust can’t stop backing RCV! Right in our home state, Maryland’s
Daily Record, which came out against RCV a few years ago, just publishedan
editorialsaying they had changed their minds after learning more. "Since we last
wrote on this topic, confidence in the current electoral system has declined
precipitously. We think that a change that may inspire voters to believe their
votes are more likely than not to “count” would be a healthy step towards
reversing this decline.” - The Daily Record" We’ve also kept getting our own
message out. Coauthored with Stan Lockhart, my commentary on RCV as fair for
everyone ran in papersall over the nation, and Dave Daley wrote a piece in the
Guardian about how ranked choice voting would make Detroit’s elections more
representative. What's happening at FairVote?
FairVote is excited to welcome Elijah Minter as our People and Culture Manager
and Elizabeth Battiste as Deputy Director of Advocacy. They will provide our
team with crucial capacity for building out partnerships with allies, making new
connections with legislators, and strengthening our organizational culture.

We’re currently hiring an Executive Assistant, Social Media Associate, and
Senior Policy Counsel. Stay tuned for more hiring soon – and we are so grateful
to our supporters who make this work possible! Thoughts from the CEO
One of FairVote’s fellow co-founders Steven Hill is editing theDemocracySoS
substack. Here’s an excerpt from arecent pieceI submitted there with lessons
from my experiences seeing RCV in practice.
“For candidates:

- Make it clear you plan to rank candidates yourself and urge your supporters to
use their rankings. Suggesting you won’t rank, or urging supporters to rank only
you, isolates you from the field and other candidates’ supporters. It’s what
Sarah Palin did this year in the special congressional election in Alaska, and
it clearly hurt her – only half of the backers of her fellow Republican in last
place ranked her as a second choice.

- Look to engage with all voters. If you see a yard sign for an opponent in
front of a house, it's still worth a conversation. Earning a 2nd choice can help
you win - and help you govern if you do win. Most RCV winners are ranked 1st,
2nd or 3rd by more than two-thirds of voters.

- Be ready to explain why you're the best choice in contrast to other
candidates, but be ready to say where you agree with them as well. Establishing
common ground is healthy for our political discourse, and can earn you more 2nd
or 3rd choice support.” Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Rob RichieFairVote President and CEO

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