Letter: Ranked-choice voting fights apathy

I was glad to see Dee Anne Finken’s Dec. 2 article about ranked-choice voting, as I believe this type of election reform deserves serious consideration. This was followed up by Dec. 6 editorial on ranked-choice voting, along with a letter titled “Beware of ulterior motives.” As the editorial pointed out, our democratic system is being undermined by voter apathy and ranked-choice voting is one way to engage more citizens by making their vote count, elect candidates with the broadest appeal, and produce election results that more accurately reflect the majority opinion. I feel that it’s disingenuous to characterize those promoting this and other electoral reforms as being partisan “agenda-driven activists” when the objective is to have a more fair and truly representative electoral process. Ranked-choice voting along with nonpartisan redistricting (to reduce gerrymandering) and limiting the influence of money are some of the recommendations in a 2017 Harvard Business School report titled “Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America,” available online as a free download. These are worthwhile and necessary reforms to address the current dysfunctions, not a partisan tactic.