GOV. BAKER WRONG ON RANKED CHOICE VOTING
RCV enhances democracy, voter power
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rachel Barnhart
rbarnhart@represent.us / (413) 333-5656
FLORENCE, MASS. (October 27, 2020): Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker falsely characterized Ranked Choice Voting today in saying it’s confusing to voters, will cost more money and will delay election results.
Numerous studies show that in places with ranked choice voting, voters understand and support this method of choosing candidates. There is simply no evidence Ranked Choice Voting leads to increased costs or delayed results.
Baker claims the current system is working well. Yet voters often complain about picking the “lesser of two evils.” With Ranked Choice Voting, they can pick the candidate that best reflects their values, instead of worrying about the spoiler effect. In our polarized times, Ranked Choice Voting offers hope for more civility among candidates who don’t want to alienate supporters of their opponents.
“Seeing growing support for Ranked Choice Voting, the governor is, unfortunately, instilling fear in voters because he wants to keep the status quo,” said Ellen Moorhouse, Deputy Communications Director for RepresentUs. “This is a grassroots movement to give voters more choice and more power.”
The Yes on 2 campaign has been endorsed by US Senator Elizabeth Warren, US Senator Edward Markey, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause of Massachusetts, MassVOTE and six Massachusetts newspapers. See the full list of endorsers here.
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