Thursday, September 1: Ranked. Choice. Voting.
It makes democracy better, so naturally it terrifies half the country
Mary Peltola, learn the name and remember it. Yesterday Peltola became the first Native Alaskan (Yup’ik) to win a congressional election and will serve out the remainder of the term in Washington. Making history is a massive flex, but humiliating Sarah Palin in the process, that’s just gravy baby. Both Peltola and Palin are likely to compete again in a general election in November for the chance to serve a two-year term in congress (lowercase to indicate disrespect).
This was also the first ranked-choice election in Alaska, one of only two states (Maine) that give voters the option, and the results prove the method’s effectiveness. For those unfamiliar, ranked-choice voting (RCV) is an electoral system that allows voters to rank candidates by preference; for example I could vote for Bernie in first, Mo Salah second, and Hilary Clinton last. If there’s a clear first-choice winner, the election ends, congrats Bernie, we all knew you could do it. If not, then the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated (bye Hilary) along with their first-place votes, thus bringing up the second-preferred choices. This process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority. It might seem complex, but I assure you there are elementary school children who can grasp the concept. The question is, why isn’t RCV offered as an option in more elections?
The answer is that implementing RCV would imply election reform, and we all know how unpopular reform is in this country. There’s a (not insignificant) part of the population that believes our elections are already flawlessly orchestrated and find no issue with forcing voters to choose the “lesser of two evils”. My entire voting experience has been shaped by this approach, and personally I welcome the opportunity to give voters more power. Suck it Palin.
Side Items
In a dramatic back-and-forth contest, Liverpool were able to squeeze in a goal in the final minute to come from behind and prove that all the Saudi blood money in the world won’t buy Newcastle a victory
The United Nations, continuing to prove its uselessness as an organization, says what we’ve all suspected for years; China ~may~ have committed crimes against humanity in its treatment of Uyghurs and other majority-Muslim groups in Xinjiang. Missing from the report is any indication of how to bring these crimes to a stop or hold those responsible accountable
NASA has rescheduled the proposed launch date for the Artemis lunar mission, aiming to try again on Saturday. Rumor has it one of our readers is on the ground and will be providing updates as needed