Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Ranked-choice is not so complex

Fortunately, Question 3 passed its first test in the midterm election, and considering the extremes of current party politics, ranked-choice voting may be the only way to return to normalcy. In fact, when considering the quality of Nevada’s Republican candidates, the party might have collected more independent votes with ranked-choice voting.

Arguments that ranked-choice voting is complicated and takes forever to know the winner are facetious. Its success has been shown in several states, and the recent election confirms that being restricted to voting for a single candidate does not mean rapidly knowing the winner.

Also, the election status in Alaska as of Monday shows the simplicity of determining a ranked-choice winner. In the Senate race, the two leaders are Lisa Murkowski (43.3%) and Kelly Tshibaka (42.7%). Neither has more than 50%, and the winner will be determined by the second and third choices of those voting for Patricia Chesbro (10.3%) and Buzz Kelley (2.9%). In the House race, Mary Peltola (48.7%) will be one of the potential winners. The other will be either Sarah Palin (25.8%) or Nick Begich (23.4%), depending on the second and third choices of those voting for Chris Bye (1.7%).

As in any election, the yet-to-be-counted votes will also be important.