Ranked voting is used in about 10 cities around our country, most recently used in the Democratic Primary for mayor. Many think it is a fairer way of determining the outcome of an election. Here's how it works.
Let's say there are 10 people running for the nomination for a particular office. When you vote, you vote for your 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, 4th choice and 5th choice. The votes are tabulated, and the 10th place finisher is removed from competition. The votes for him or her are then given to the person that was the second choice. The votes are retabulated and the person in last place (now only 9 people), is eliminated. Those that voted for #9 are now allotted to their number 2 choice. It goes on like this until two candidates are left, and there is a runoff between the two candidates. This is all assuming no one gets 50%. If someone does get 50%, he or she is automatically the candidate.
It's a little difficult to understand, and even more difficult to explain, but it does seem to be fairer. We'll see how New York likes it. It is also done in San Francisco, Berkeley and several other cities around the country.
The negative is that you may not have the results of the election for weeks. We'll see how it goes. Voting and fairness is certainly a hot topic these days. Unfortunately most of the voting efforts are geared at trying to get people not to vote.
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