BOSTON — Supporters say it puts people in charge, but opponents charge Ranked Choice Voting will over-complicate the electoral process such that it could end up disenfranchising those it seeks to empower.
“It’s been demonstrated to hurt the elderly and to hurt people of color,” said Kevin O’Connor, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate and an opponent of Question 2. “We need to make government simpler, more straightforward for everyone.”
O’Connor’s opponent, U.S. Senator Edward Markey, supports Ranked Choice Voting.
Related: Election 2020: Massachusetts ballot questions
“RCV really stands for Real Common Sense,” Markey said. “The American Revolution, the Abolitionist Movement, the Suffragette Movement, the Affordable Care Act Movement, the Same-sex Marriage Movement and now RVC -- real common sense -- to make sure that everyone has their voice fully heard in every election in Massachusetts.”
With Ranked Choice Voting, candidates are chosen on the basis of preference.
A candidate can win a race outright if he or she attains at least 50% of first preference votes. If that doesn’t happen, the candidate with the lowest number of first-preference votes is eliminated, but that candidate’s second-preference votes are distributed among the remaining candidates.
This process continues until a candidate achieves a majority of votes.
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At present, just a few states and jurisdictions use Ranked Choice Voting, most notably Maine, which will, for the first time, use the system for federal elections this year.
Massachusetts and Alaska both have Ranked Choice referendums on the ballot this year.
O’Connor, who is clearly the underdog in his race with Markey, calls Ranked Choice ‘bad for democracy’ and something that would benefit ‘the system.’
“We all know that the best way to support a candidate is to vote for that candidate,” O’Connor said. “We don’t need all these complex rules that muddy things up. They’re designed to protect incumbents. They’re designed to protect the entrenched interests. They try to make things complicated, whether it’s election finance or Ranked Choice Voting, it’s all designed to make things complicated so the insiders can exploit the tricks in the rules.”
But Evan Falchuk, chair of the Yes On 2 campaign, said the time is right for its passage.
“We believe in Rank Choice Voting because we live in a time of great division,” Falchuk said. “And Rank Choice Voting is an act of hope and faith in the future of our democracy.”
Vote by mail steps:
- Request your mail-in ballot through www.mailmyballotma.com or with a mail ballot application.
- Fill out the application completely.
- Submit the request online through www.mailmyballotma.com or to your local election office. You should request your ballot as far in advance of the election as possible. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is (received by) 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.
- When your ballot arrives, read it carefully and follow the instructions to complete it and return it.
- Track your ballot
Voter Resources
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- Massachusetts Ballot Questions
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