Bay Staters on Tuesday decided to reject ranked-choice voting in future elections.
The Yes 2 campaign, the group pushing for ranked-choice, conceded early Wednesday morning after it became clear that it could not surmount the 55%-45% gap in polling.
“We were attempting to do something historic in Massachusetts and fell short,” said Cara McCormick, Yes 2’s campaign manager.
Ranked-choice voting, a system common in other countries but not the United States, requires people to cast ballots by listing candidates in order of favorite to least favorite and devises a method by which candidates must win more than 50% of the vote to declare victory. Proponents in Massachusetts pushed for its implementation in all but presidential and a handful of local elections.
In the ranked-choice voting system, people cast their ballots, listing candidates in order of preference. If no candidate emerges with more than 50% of the vote, the ballots are examined again, and the candidate who received the least amount of first-preference votes is removed from the running. Then, on any ballot which he or she topped the list, the second-preference candidate is bumped up to the first-preference slot. This process is repeated until one candidate secures more than 50% of the vote.
The system’s advocates claim that it is more democratic because it allows voters to choose multiple candidates. Detractors say that it is confusing. In Massachusetts, most top Democrats supported the system, while the state Republican Party officially opposed it.
“The results of this election show that, even against an overwhelming avalanche of money, a clear and honest message can rule the day,” the Republican-backed group No on 2 said after Yes 2 conceded.
With Democratic support, Maine decided in favor of ranked-choice voting in 2018. The system’s constitutionality is still hotly contested by state Republicans.
This cycle, Alaska also voted on ranked-choice voting.
