The Idaho Secretary of State’s office announced recently the Idahoans for Open Primaries initiative qualified to be on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. It seeks to abolish party primaries and require ranked-choice voting in the general election. Currently political parties nominate candidates through primary elections, where party members vote for a candidate to represent the party in the general election. Under Idaho law, parties may also close off their primaries to anyone who isn’t a party member This initiative would make all candidates participate in a nonparty primary where...

Alaska’s new election system — with open primaries and ranked voting — has been a model for those in other states who are frustrated by political polarization and a sense that voters lack real choice at the ballot box. Used for the first time in 2022, the changes helped propel the first Alaska Native to a seat in Congress. The voting system, however, could be short-lived. Opponents of ranked voting want to repeal it and are entangled in a legal fight over whether their initiative will be on Alaska’s November...

New York City voters are probably already familiar with ranked-choice voting. The city adopted a version of the system through a 2019 ballot measure, but it is only used for primaries and special elections for municipal elected offices — at least for now. At the state level, a proposed bill would expand the use of ranked-choice voting for all state and local offices. The film traces the wild path of Alaska’s 2022 House race, which featured a ballot with 48 candidates and a failed comeback attempt by Sarah Palin, the...

The Missouri Legislature adjourned last month. It is scheduled to go back into session in September. This is the annual veto session where the legislature has an opportunity to override any of the governor’s vetoes. The Republican majority enacted a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban ranked choice voting in most of the state. The amendment, if approved by the voters, would also ban noncitizen voting and confirm that elections could only be carried out with paper ballots or with any mechanical method prescribed by law. The City of St....

The Governor’s Working Group on Ranked-Choice Voting has begun discussing the merits and logistics of instant runoff voting, a procedure that could radically change how state elections are conducted. Gov. Ned Lamont initially announced the working group on June 6 after endorsing state election reforms during his 2022 campaign. The group will focus on developing a legislative proposal to allow ranked-choice voting in caucuses, conventions, primaries, and certain municipal elections for political parties and municipalities.

Your overwrought editorial blaming Rep. Emily Sirota for proposing an amendment to Senate Bill 24-210, a bill strengthening and defending Colorado election laws, was without merit. Additionally, you declared that Rep. Sirota’s amendment, which passed with no opposition, was “underhanded” and “subverting direct democracy.” The election bill amendment does not prevent multi-millionaire Kent Thiry’s ballot proposals from going to a vote of the people in November, it just allows Colorado to figure out if the proposals will work here if they get on the ballot should voters approve them.

Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune is leading a new push to implement a ranked-choice voting system for municipal elections, four years after Massachusetts voters rejected a similar statewide ballot initiative. In a home rule petition introduced Wednesday, Louijeune argued that while 55% of Massachusetts voters in 2020 spurned a system where voters would rank a series of candidates by preference rather than simply select their top choice, there was actually “broad” support for the change in Boston, where 62% were in favor. Such a change, she said, would “modernize...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Could Connecticut embrace ranked-choice voting? A working group is exploring the possibility. Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that he’d formed the group to look at options and come up with a plan to allow Connecticut to use ranked-choice voting in caucuses, conventions and some elections. The group’s recommendations will be presented to the legislature next year.