In these needlessly divisive times, it’s easy to despair for the future. If you need a dose of optimism that doesn’t need a prescription, join the ranked-choice voting movement, where participants are enthusiastically working to reclaim our democracy at the local, state, and federal levels.
The Maryland state chapter of Rank the Vote came to Rockville earlier this month, hosting a meeting at the Twinbrook Library. I was enthusiastic to hear about this gathering, RSVP’d, and fully expected that four other like-minded people would show up. How wrong I was.
Well over 30 citizens participated, taking up almost every seat in the room.
This fully diverse group of attendees all had the same aspiration: revitalizing our precious democracy, eliminating unconvincing plurality wins, attenuating negative campaigns, and ensuring election results are an expression of voter preference.
What happened in Rockville is happening all over Maryland. Rank the Vote’s state organizing director, Ankur Shukla, said that very often more people attend their community meetings than who RSVP.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) is important for Rockville. The city council has four members, all elected at-large. Here are the results of their most recent 2019 election.
| Council Candidates | Number of Votes | Percent of Total Votes |
| Monique Ashton | 5,701 | 12% |
| Beryl L. Feinberg | 5,676 | 12% |
| David Myles | 5,181 | 11% |
| Mark Pierzchala | 4,822 | 11% |
No more than 13% of the participating voters elected all of the winners, and those wins were very slim pluralities. That result is a perfect example of voter dilution, arguably worse than what happens on the county council.
The city council barely rejected the recommendation of its own charter review commission to place RCV as an advisory question on the upcoming ballot. One of the primary concerns the opposing council members expressed was lack of voter education regarding RCV.
That’s the objective for this grass-roots movement: voter education. In fact, you can already see volunteers for ranked-choice voting canvassing for your support at the Bethesda Farmer’s Market, Rockville Town Center, and other locations throughout the county. Engage with them and learn about the many advantages of ranked-choice voting.
For more information about RCV, see Fair Vote. To get involved with promoting RCV in your community, contact Ankur Shukla at ankur@rankthevote.us.
