Managing Director Leah Field in The Hill: Ranked-Choice Voting Win in NYC Shows Strength of Citizen-Led Democracy ReformÂ
At the recent National Citizen Leadership Conference, FairVote Managing Director Sangita Sigdyal shared how ranked-choice voting helps upgrade our elections by enabling voters to rank candidates, rather than choosing just one.
In November, New York City approved ranked-choice voting on the ballot by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. Led by citizen activism, the effort was a major win for democracy reform advocates who hope to overcome partisan gridlock, political corruption, and concentrated entrenched power to help create a democracy that works for all Americans.
Read Leah Field’s op-ed in The Hill.
Ranked-choice voting is a step toward making elections more representative of voter wishes, giving voters more choices at the ballot box. The victory in our nation’s largest city also signifies something we at American Promise know very well: Citizen-led grassroots reform is powerful, and it’s winning in cities and states across the nation.
Americans want a democracy that represents all of us, and on democracy reform issues we are united—more than 70% of all Americans believe there is too much money in politics. We also share a desire for legislative action on a number of other issues. As Leah writes in The Hill: “Despite a mainstream narrative that paints Americans as more divided than ever, we are actually united on a number of issues: 73 percent of Americans want health care reform; nearly 70 percent of Americans want action on climate change; and more than 60 percent support income tax reform. The reason we see no legislative action on these issues is not because of disagreement among voters; it is because the big money special interests that fund election and reelection campaigns preclude compromise and maintain a state of constant gridlock.”
Ending the dominance of big money in politics is a fundamental measure that will enable Americans to be represented more fairly and strongly in our democracy. Americans across the country and across the political spectrum are coming together around this critical cause. The recent affirmation of democracy reform in New York shows that the American people are powerful and can make meaningful reforms happen. American Promise is leading the cross-partisan effort to pass the 28th Amendment and limit big money in politics, in every state across the nation. Learn how you can join us where you live.
