Show Notes
The Radical Centrist Episode 2Ranked Choice Voting with Rep Ellen Read (D, Newmarket)
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"A mind stretched by a new idea, does not return to its original dimension”
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
According to recent polling of Americans nearly ⅔ of Americans say our democracy is broken. Between the poisonous effects of special interest money, the deeply partisan divide, the purging of centrist voices in both parties, Negative campaigning, the tribalism and deep sense of antipathy and mistrust with which most Americans view their government.
Many people who have been engaged for years in public policy matters have stated that we have lost our ability to take on the big issues of the day because we have allowed Democracy to deteriorate and have disenfranchised citizens, sublimating our American voice, in the quest for power.
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One symptom of the problems within our democracy are the number of elections won by candidates where they received 17, 20, 30% of the vote and won simply because the votes had been divided between multiple candidates - thus disenfranchising a majority of voters, leading to a deepening lack of confidence in our democratic system.
In this podcast I am pleased to speak with New Hampshire State Representative Ellen Read, sponsor of HB728 a bill to create a new system of electing our representatives and Senators: Ranked Choice Voting - sometimes referred to as “Instant Runoff Voting”.
In this podcast I am pleased to speak with New Hampshire State Representative Ellen Read, sponsor of HB728 a bill to create a new system of electing our representatives and Senators: Ranked Choice Voting - sometimes referred to as “Instant Runoff Voting”.
I’ve let Representative Read fill in the details but in a nutshell Ranked Choice Voting allows the voter, in any state or federal election where there are more than 2 candidates on the ballot, to rank the candidates in order of preference and when the ballots are counted, If no candidate received an absolute majority the votes of candidates with the fewest votes are reallocated to the remaining candidates until someone achieves a majority.
Ellen Read is a Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Rockingham 17. Read was first elected to the office on November 8, 2016 and re-elected again in the 2018 elections.
After you have listened to this podcast, if you believe that Ranked Choice Voting can help to stem the tide of bitter partisanship and negative campaigning in our country and give us election results that more closely reflect the majority of voters, I urge you to contact your state Reps and Senators to let them know your feelings and encourage your friends to do the same. Believe me when I say that the two major parties often do not know what is in their own best interests and in the end they have a whole lot less influence on your Representative and Senators than we do if we speak out and stand together. , but only if only we speak out.
You can find a link to a listing of all senators and state reps as well as other supporting material in the shownotes at www.theradicalcentrist.us
My thanks once again to Free Joseph whose upbeat reggae song “Tell Me Why” provides the perfect blend of rhythm and optimism for The Radical Centrist Podcast. You can find his music at FreeJoseph.net. Now take us out Free?
NH House and Senate Information
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/
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Ellen Read is a Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Rockingham 17. Read was first elected to the office on November 8, 2016 and re-elected again in the 2018 elections.
After you have listened to this podcast, if you believe that Ranked Choice Voting can help to stem the tide of bitter partisanship and negative campaigning in our country and give us election results that more closely reflect the majority of voters, I urge you to contact your state Reps and Senators to let them know your feelings and encourage your friends to do the same. Believe me when I say that the two major parties often do not know what is in their own best interests and in the end they have a whole lot less influence on your Representative and Senators than we do if we speak out and stand together. , but only if only we speak out.
You can find a link to a listing of all senators and state reps as well as other supporting material in the shownotes at www.theradicalcentrist.us
My thanks once again to Free Joseph whose upbeat reggae song “Tell Me Why” provides the perfect blend of rhythm and optimism for The Radical Centrist Podcast. You can find his music at FreeJoseph.net. Now take us out Free?
Links
Become a patron of the podcast
Free Joseph - He is Here
Quick video description of Ranked Choice
HB 728
Status of Bills NH House and Senate
NH House and Senate Information
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/
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