The passage of Amendment 7, a ballot measure appearing on the November 5 election ballot, would eliminate ranked choice voting, except for St. Louis. St. Louis currently uses approval voting for their local elections.
The Community Health Commission of Missouri opposes the passage of Amendment 7 because ranked choice voting has been shown to decrease political polarization and increase confidence in voting efforts. These effects are crucial for advancing health equity, as a less polarized political environment allows for more diverse voices, including those from marginalized communities, to be heard and represented. Eliminating ranked choice voting could undermine these democratic benefits, making it harder to address the systemic inequities that drive health disparities.
What is ranked choice voting, and why does it matter?
Ranked choice voting, or RCV for short, sounds complicated but is quite simple. Instead of picking one person for President, you would rank the candidates.
Candidates need a majority, or 50% of the vote to win.
If no candidate receives a majority, the one with the lowest votes is cut and their voters are added to the other candidates.
So, maybe your #1 ranked candidate is cut first. Your vote would be added to your #2 candidate instead. The cycle continues until someone earns the majority.
80% of voters have said they are concerned about the U.S. democratic system. Primary elections were supposed to help increase voter confidence, but only a small number of voters turn out. The people who do vote are not representative of the general population. RCV provides more choice for voters; you can vote how you want without fear of “throwing your vote away.” Around 50 jurisdictions in the U.S. have already moved to a ranked choice system. RCV can also replace runoff elections, which are costly and time-consuming. It could possibly dilute the power of the two major parties in the U.S. by allowing more choice for voters. This method has been suggested to weed out more ideologically extreme candidates.
St. Louis used approval voting, which is similar to RCV, in their latest election. In previous years, voters had to choose between up to 7 candidates for mayor and alderman. Between 2015 and 2019, there were 8 city elections where the winner earned less than 37% of the vote. Five of those elections had winners with less than 20% of the vote. There was suspicion that this was racially motivated because the Black vote would be split amongst multiple candidates. In November of 2020, citizens passed a measure to use approval voting with 68% of the vote. Approval voting was used in the 2021 election cycle, and on average voters voted for 1.6 candidates. Tishaura Jones won more than 50% of the vote to become St. Louis’ first African American woman mayor. In 2022 the Board of Aldermen threatened to repeal the measure. It was enshrined into the charter by voters later that year.
The Bottom Line
Ranked choice voting sounds complicated, but it’s a simple way for you to express how you truly feel. Many people want to vote for a third party candidate but are afraid of wasting their vote and causing someone else to win. Being able to vote is key to achieving systematic equality. You need to know that your voice matters, and you see yourself represented in government. We oppose the passage of Amendment 7 and the dilution of democratic voting strength.