Instant Runoff/Ranked Choice Voting a better election system

To the Editor

In November 2020, a number of Georgians came together to launch Better Ballot Georgia Inc., a nonprofit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing “common sense solutions for a healthy democracy.” We come from all political flavors and, as such, we disagree about lots of things. But we are united in our dedication to CHOICE.

That’s both a word and an acronym:

— Competition that is fair and open is critical to a healthy democracy;

— Hyper-partisanship and uncivil campaigns damage America;

— Our representatives govern in response to how they’re elected;

— Instant runoffs save time and money without compromising fairness or accuracy;

— Candidates should win with a majority, not a plurality, of the votes;

— Elections should give us government that works.

The time has finally come for us to declare our independence from archaic elections that limit freedom of choice, promote hyper-partisanship and uncivil political campaigns, waste time, waste money and fail to deliver government that works on behalf of the majority of its citizens. All that’s needed is a simple but powerful and time-tested upgrade to how we conduct our elections. It’s called Instant Runoff/Ranked Choice Voting.

Our values are reflected in a petition that urges the adoption of Instant Runoff/Ranked Choice Voting in Georgia. You can find it and sign it at BetterBallotGeorgia.org/petition.

Anna Holloway for Shai Robkin

Shai Robkin is president of Better Ballot Georgia Inc.