This Election Day, Chicagoans Consider A Different Way To Vote

By Julian Hayda
In this Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018 file photo, a worker prepares ballots during the vote tabulation process for Maine’s Second Congressional District’s House election in Augusta, Maine. The election, the first congressional race in American history to be decided by the ranked-choice voting method, was among the state’s top stories in 2018.
In this Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018 file photo, a worker prepares ballots during the vote tabulation process for Maine's Second Congressional District's House election in Augusta, Maine. The election, the first congressional race in American history to be decided by the ranked-choice voting method, was among the state's top stories in 2018. Robert F. Bukaty / AP Photo
In this Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018 file photo, a worker prepares ballots during the vote tabulation process for Maine’s Second Congressional District’s House election in Augusta, Maine. The election, the first congressional race in American history to be decided by the ranked-choice voting method, was among the state’s top stories in 2018.
In this Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018 file photo, a worker prepares ballots during the vote tabulation process for Maine's Second Congressional District's House election in Augusta, Maine. The election, the first congressional race in American history to be decided by the ranked-choice voting method, was among the state's top stories in 2018. Robert F. Bukaty / AP Photo

This Election Day, Chicagoans Consider A Different Way To Vote

By Julian Hayda
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Chicagoans elect their next mayor on Tuesday. From a field of 14 candidates, voters will try to narrow their choice down to one. In the likely scenario that no one wins at least 50 percent of the vote, though, the race will drag on; the two candidates with the most votes will face each other in a runoff on April 2. Robert Middlekauff, a lead organizer and founder of FairVote Illinois, believes there is a better way to vote. Middlekauff advocates for ranked choice voting, a system in which voters rank candidates from their favorite to their least favorite — with some possible variations. Under this system, runoffs are never necessary. Joining us to discuss what ranked choice voting in Illinois would look like is Middlekauff and Ruth Greenwood. Greenwood is Senior Legal Counsel for Voting Rights and Redistricting for the Campaign Legal Center. She is originally from Australia, which uses ranked choice voting and where voting is compulsory.