• LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Did anyone read the article? It’s not saying ever you guys think it’s saying. The DC Democrats are saying that in two predominantly black areas, having voters pick two choices on ballots has already led to confusion and that ranked choice will lead to even worse confusion.

    They’re not speculating here, they’re describing what’s already known.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I read the article, and it doesn’t change the argument. Undervoting is a problem, but one that doesn’t affect ranked choice voting any more than fptp. Voters were able to select two candidates and only voted for one, and probably don’t even realize they did not complete their ballot. If anything, a little ballot education outreach that would be necesaary while implementing ranked choice might reduce undervoting overall.

      • LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Voters were able to select two candidates and only voted for one

        Clarification: low-income voters from predominantly black areas did this, which is effectively disenfranchisement. That’s the concern: that low-income minorities may be disenfranchised by more complex/confusing ballots. The concern is real because it already happened.

        • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, low income correlates with low education and an increase in voter error. That’s not a reason to not make the elections more fair or more accurate. It’s the opposite of that.

          Ranked Choice voters can still select their first and only choice. If there are two spots, there will be two sections to fill out rankings and it will likely result in fewer undervotes.

    • SmoothIsFast@citizensgaming.com
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      1 year ago

      Our both choices were not great and having a system where you arent choosing between corporate shill one and two would aid that… stop apologizing for assholes being racist and power hungry. Black people aren’t stupid. Say what you really mean instead of pandering around it…

      • LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You guys are exhausting.

        No one is saying black people are too dumb to understand ranked choice. They’re saying that people from low income, predominantly black areas, under-voted when required to choose two candidates on past ballots. That means those people were effectively disenfranchised. If the evidence shows that ranked choice could potentially disenfranchise people from low-income minority areas, that is something to be concerned about.

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          That’s not a reason good enough to hold back everyone else from the benefits of ranked choice. If they’re worried about that alleged potential disenfranchisement then they should get out there and inform those people of how to do it properly. Send out flyers, emails, publish advertisements, knock on doors, etc.

          The rest of us are already disenfranchised by these shitty 2-party choices.

          • LittleLordLimerick@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I’m not saying that they’re right. I’m saying that calling them racists who think black people are dumb is a complete mischaracterization.

    • JoYo@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I share your frustration. I live in ward 6 which shares political influence with ward 7 and 8.

      the confusion isn’t from the ranked vote as much as the way the ballot is currently arranged.

      the ranked choice just happens to be the change used to fix the disenfranchisement and the complaint is that’s not enough.

      I agree.