The Green Party of Hawai’i supports a robust ranked choice voting (RCV) system. The Green Party has instant runoff voting (a form of RCV) in our platform and has been using this form of voting for years. The Republican and Democratic parties are also using RCV more and more at their conventions around the U.S. It is past time to bring RCV to Hawaii’s people.
Currently, the Green Party of Hawai’i is asking for voter support for Senate Bill 2162 SD1, Ranked Choice Voting, which provides for at least some ranked choice voting, in some special elections. This limited bill has passed the Senate, and an amended version just cleared the House Finance Committee. This bill has been stalled in the Legislature for years and is much overdue. In my mind, this bill is a weak version of RCV, but it is a crack in the system that will allow for better representation in special elections.
Please call your state representatives and senators in support of this bill as a way forward for all peoples of Hawaii to have their voices heard.
As the bill reads now the effective date for special elections starts January 2222. Since that arbitrary date will need to change, we ask for your testimony to push for a July 1, 2023, start date. The public does not trust the two-party system, and RCV offers a path for a diverse field of candidates and eliminates the “spoiler effect” of voting for your first-choice candidate. Let me explain.
According to Fairvote.org, as of November 2021, 43 jurisdictions used RCV in their most recent elections, and more than 50 jurisdictions are projected to use RCV in their next election. Maine was the first state to implement RCV which typically eliminates the use of primaries, therefore saving money on elections.
RCV allows voters the option to rank candidates in order of preference: one, two, three and so forth. If no candidate passes the 50% mark in the first round, your second choice is tabulated in an instant runoff. This continues for each round until there is a clear winner. The “spoiler effect” does not come into play because RCV invites more candidates into the running. You can have three or four candidates that you would approve of winning the election, so your block of candidates could all be ranked in your order of preference. The “spoiler” comes into play when there are only two candidates and people believe one is bad, and the other one is worse. That is how we end up with a corrupt two-party system that makes it impossible for new candidates to enter into the political arena.
The track record shows that RCV allows women, third parties, and voices that may not have support of super-PACs (political action committees) to be heard. This is better for true representation on our islands. The city of New York and Virginia’s Republican convention are examples of newly implemented RCV in 2021.
The Green Party of Hawai’i strongly supports RCV for our state. We ask your support of SB 2162 SD1, with amendment to the date of implementation to July 1, 2023.
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ON THE NET:
>> Learn more about ranked choice voting at Fairvote.org.
Susan Roberts-Emery co-chairs the Green Party of Hawai’i.
