What is ranked-choice voting and where is it used?
Updated: 16:53 ET, Jun 10 2021
RANKED-choice voting has entered the national spotlight thanks to the heat-up of the New York City mayoral race.
But New York City isn t the only place that uses this unique voting system.
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What is ranked-choice voting and where is it used?
Here s how it works: Cities that have ranked-choice voting, such as New York City, determine the winner of an election based on preference.
This preference includes a voter putting down the first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on for the winner. Voters can prefer to choose one person to vote for if they want.
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The future of New York City will in many ways begin to take shape in the June primary, when more than 30 New York City council seats and the race for mayor will be largely decided. As we saw with the recent special election of the 24th Council District in Queens, super PACs which can spend unlimited money on messaging to support a candidate could play a major role.
Gabe Tobias, a political strategist who helped catapult Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to victory in 2018, is now the director of the recently formed progressive PAC called Our City, which is aimed at supporting upwards of 15 Council candidates. Our City is now vetting more than 350 candidates to determine who best fits their values, and looks to raise a total of $5 million in support of candidates.
Big Coalition of Anti-Earmark Advocacy Groups Warn Congress Against Return to ‘Business-as-Usual’
A coalition of 18 conservative non-profit advocacy groups that oppose the return of earmarks to congressional spending issued a letter Feb. 22 to all 535 senators and representatives warning them that taxpayers “want an end to business-as-usual.”
The coalition’s warning refers to plans of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to restore the practice under a new title of “Member-directed spending.”
Earmarks are obscure provisions in appropriations bills that allow individual congressmen to direct tax dollars, often anonymously, to family members, friends, and campaign donors.