With Primary (St. Patrick’s) Day fast approaching and 13 left-leaning candidates still vying for Danny Davis’ seat, it is difficult not to be concerned about cancellation and turnout. Last week, Bill Dwyer’s article on the race observed that an effort has begun in Oak Park to unify progressive support behind Kina Collins, yet in the same issue Viewpoints ran Scott Sakiyama’s letter endorsing Anabel Mendoza. Meanwhile, the incumbent endorsed La Shawn Ford, Congresswoman Underwood supports Dr. Thomas Fisher, and yard signs supporting Reed Showalter abound.
It’s enough to make the average voter’s head spin more than a pint of green beer. And though the field is crowded and the district is diverse, I think our outdated single-choice voting system is to blame. It is a system built on scarcity rather than abundance. And it is time we embrace the alternative of ranked-choice voting.
In a ranked-choice system each voter ranks her preferred candidates — and then if no candidate reaches more than 50% of first choice votes, the bottom-performing candidate is eliminated and voters who chose that candidate first have their vote counted for their second choice and so on until a candidate wins with more than half the votes. Ranked-choice eliminates the risk of cancellation because votes for lower-performing candidates eventually consolidate behind stronger candidates. It also incentivizes candidates to reach out to a broader swath of the public than just their base. Essentially, ranked-choice voting gives power back to the voters.
One heartening example of the benefits of ranked-choice voting is the recent New York mayoral election. In that election Zohran Mamdani and Brad Landers cross-endorsed each other — leading to Mamdani’s historic win. What a breath of fresh air to have two candidates admit they’re on the same side and that either would be a quality choice!
On March 17, one lucky candidate will come away with 20-odd percent of the vote and be named the Democratic nominee (and presumptive Representative-elect). But I hope whoever wins will consider championing a more equitable system of ranked-choice voting in the future.
Allison Lantero
River Forest