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Ranked Choice Voting
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One of my favorite classes I took at UVA was a sociology class called Social Movements. We studied how movements arise and why people get involved. One important factor in motivating people to work for change is momentum. People don’t want to feel like they are joining a losing battle – they need to feel like they are joining a growing movement that can succeed.
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Momentum is important. And when it comes to changing the way we vote – changing the way people do an important act that they have been doing the same way for decades – momentum can be helpful. I think one of the reasons that Albemarle County should switch to Ranked Choice Voting is because it helps build momentum, so other municipalities will want to use it. Currently, “As of February 2025, 51 American jurisdictions have RCV in place for all voters in public elections, reaching nearly 14 million voters.” (FairVote.org) For this new, better way of voting to take place, we need more than 51 jurisdictions to do it!
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One reason I like RCV is because I think the idea of “one person, one vote” can be limiting. Most of us have varied opinions, and being forced to choose just one doesn’t give us the space to show what we really think. RCV is a great way to encompass the range of our own opinions, letting us support 2 or 3 people we like.
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When this was presented to the county last year, some discussions around it said that it could be confusing for people to learn, and that we often have elections with so few candidates that RCV isn’t necessary. It is true that we often have few candidates, so I understand the argument that it might not be useful yet – but that’s precisely why we should implement it. When we do have more candidates, it won't be confusing for people to learn, because they'll already be familiar with it!
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In addition, implementing RCV in Albemarle County would be a great way to show support for this way of voting even if it doesn’t necessarily impact us. The more municipalities switch to RCV, the more municipalities will want to switch, because Ranked Choice Voting is a growing movement that can succeed, and we should do our part to make sure it does.
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