Ranked choice voting to be used to pick Democratic nominees in local special elections
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - When Democratic Committee people on Dec. 11 and the Dec. 17 pick state House nominees to replace PA Reps. Tony DeLuca of Penn Hills, Summer Lee of Swissvale and Austin Davis of McKeesport, they'll use a new system of voting, says Allegheny County Democratic Chair Sam Hens-Greco.
"This year what we are using for the special elections is a voting method called ranked choice voting. It's a method for voters to select a majority candidate when there are more than two candidates in a race," says Hens-Greco.
Instead of holding multiple, expensive run-offs when no one reaches a majority, voters pick their first, second, third choices and so on.
If their first choice comes in last, their vote then goes to their second choice. This continues until someone gets fifty percent plus one.
"It allows us to do multiple rounds of voting, allowing committee members to choose their preference with just one ballot," says Hens-Greco.
Delano: "So it's really a time-saving process as much as anything."
Hens-Greco: "That's true."
While new in this region, Delaware County Democrats in suburban Philadelphia have been using ranked choice voting for five years, says their party chair Colleen Guiney.
"You end up with more of a consensus candidate," says Guiney. "You end up coming out of that meeting with most people saying, well if I didn't get my number one, at least I got my number two."
In this state, ranked choice voting is a party option for special election nominations and party endorsements.
Two states, Alaska and Maine, use it for all elections, and twenty cities use it for local elections.
But not in Pennsylvania. That will require legislative action in Harrisburg.
