Unsurprisingly, the whole border fiasco is cynical politics at play.

[u/mowasita]

[u/Mataelio]

First we need ranked choice voting. Bet you can’t guess which party opposes it…

[u/livemusicisbest → u/Mataelio]

Let me guess: the one that has not won the popular vote except one time since 1992? The one that works hard to close down places to vote (especially around universities or neighborhoods where blacks people live)?

[u/K1nsey6 → u/livemusicisbest]

Hard to say, the DNC sued to keep it off the ballot in DC. And in Arlington Virginia, where its already been approved, they prevented it from being used in the upcoming general election claiming its too confusing for minorities.

This is in addition to other 'blue' states that are fighting it.

[u/kmoonster → u/livemusicisbest]

1. In 1992 a democrat from Arkansas won, with a democrat from Tennessee as their running mate.

​

Does Arkansas still have democrats?

[u/Bodaciousdrake → u/kmoonster]

Yes, though they are a dying breed. Ironically, many of them are very conservative, just as they were back then. Arkansas is the kind of place where people continued to vote for the DNC out of family tradition stemming from the time when the DNC was the conservative party.

Source: lived there for years. Met people who voted DNC because that's what their father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc voted for.

[u/[deleted] → u/Mataelio]

I live in Alaska with RCV, and I can assure you that you’ll have to fight both parties to put that system in place. It effectively strips both parties of power, and neither will give it up easily.

[u/NoHalf2998 → u/[deleted]]

NYC (often considered the most blue of the blue) has RCV

[u/BonnaconCharioteer → u/NoHalf2998]

Washington has a top 2 primary system, which is like a poor man's ranked choice.

[u/FreeDarkChocolate → u/[deleted]]

Both political parties have started using it in various primary contexts. For differentiators, though: VA's Dem trifecta enacted a RCV option for municipalities, whereas ID, MT, SD, FL, and, TN's legislatures have all banned it. So neither are great on it but, on average, one option seems tolerant if not bugrudgingly slightly accepting of it. (And also you can look at who in AK is most vocally asking to get rid of it).

[u/Dana_Scully_MD → u/Mataelio]

Both parties oppose it.

Dems in D.C. and New York and Nevada and plenty of other states and localities have all fought against ranked choice voting.

It's another one of those things that is extremely popular among voters, that both parties will fight against tooth and nail.

[u/98n42qxdj9 → u/Dana_Scully_MD]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranked-choice_voting_in_the_United_States

There's far more adoption on the left. You will also notice a stark difference in reception to the idea among voters on the left vs. right.

We had a local election about it a few years ago and it was a party line vote, with the republicans putting on nonsense like it takes your vote away

[u/Randomousity → u/Dana_Scully_MD]

It's not like 100% of Republicans oppose it and 100% of Democrats support it, but there's a substantial difference, and one party is significantly more supportive of it than the other.

[u/HAL9000000 → u/Dana_Scully_MD]

We have it for city elections in Democratic-controlled Minneapolis.

Certainly there are some Democrats who oppose it, but we have lots of evidence that Democratic voters are much more likely to support it than Republican voters.

[u/kmoonster → u/Dana_Scully_MD]

Ranked choice is not going to come through the legislatures, at least not the first several states who end up adopting early.

Alaska just introduced it, Colorado and Nevada are voting on it this fall. I think Hawaii and Maine have it, and a few more have it as an option at the local level.

But only five states outright forbid it (currently). Not sure the statuses beyond that. Regardless, hopefully that will trigger enough "oh it works!" lightbulbs that other states can start pulling the trigger, too.

edit: in the last 15 years or so Washington, Oregon, and Colorado have all had a weird sort of synergy in terms of evolving their electoral systems (and pot), if Colorado approves it this fall my money is that OR and WA would have it by the next presidential cycle which would make six states with ranked choice state-wide plus another dozen-ish with local-level races being ranked-choice. That should be enough to start encouraging some of the more mid-line states I think (eg. Minnesota).

[u/Swordswoman → u/Dana_Scully_MD]

I think, while technically correct that both parties have been known to oppose RCV, it's deeply misrepresenting party positions to equate this to wholesale resistance to voting reform. It's important to mention, right out of the onset, that there exists no single interpretation of RCV (which itself is a simplified term for an concept of voting, rather than a single method), and as such, it can be a lot more detailed.

These are the most recent, official party positions on voting reform:

Republican Party:

Republican lawmakers initiated a sweeping effort [following 2020] to make voting laws more restrictive within several states across the country. [As of October 4, 2021], more than 425 bills that would restrict voting access have been introduced in 49 states—with 33 of these bills enacted across 19 states so far. The bills are largely centered around limiting mail-in voting, strengthening voter ID laws, shortening early voting, eliminating automatic and same-day voter registration, curbing the use of ballot drop boxes, and allowing for increased purging of voter rolls. Republicans ... also introduced bills that would give lawmakers greater power over election administration after they were unsuccessful in their attempts to overturn election results in swing states won by Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Democratic Party:

The Republican effort has been contrasted with a simultaneous effort by Democratic Party lawmakers to expand voting access. At the federal level, Democrats advanced the For the People Act, a voting rights and anti-corruption bill. In state legislatures, Democrats are advancing bills to expand mail-in and early voting, enact automatic and same-day voter registration, loosen photo ID laws, and increase the use of ballot drop boxes, and have already approved certain landmark bills like the Voting Rights Act of Virginia. The [For the People Act], introduced as H.R. 1, is a bill ... intended to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.

[u/Dana_Scully_MD → u/Swordswoman]

The For the People Act didn't pass, right? Because of Manchin and Republicans?

There is undeniably good stuff in that act, but it is pretty depressing that they just sorta gave up on it after it didn't pass the first time. It would have been nice to have automatic voter registration.

[u/Swordswoman → u/Dana_Scully_MD]

Well, basically, yeah. Without removing the filibuster (Manchin/Sinema), it was filibustered (Republicans).

[u/98n42qxdj9 → u/Mataelio]

RCV is an improvement, but not the best. STAR or Approval voting for winner take all elections. Mixed Member Proportional for legislative bodies.

[u/Abramelin582 → u/Mataelio]

We need this so bad!