Let Michigan voters make democracy work

This article, published on BridgeMichigan by Karen Weaver, urges implementation of voting reform for Michigan voters, citing research from RepresentWomen. Read an excerpt below:

Michigan has a long tradition of letting cities govern their own local affairs, especially their own elections, and with good reason: the people of Kalamazoo know what will work in Kalamazoo better than politicians from other places sitting in Lansing. So, when a city charter amendment passes by popular vote, the Legislature’s job should be to clear the statutory path, not leave the reform stranded in legal limbo.

There’s also a representation case here that matters deeply to me as a Black woman who was the first woman to serve as Flint’s mayor. The research on ranked choice voting is consistent and it is not close.

• Candidates of color win 60% of ranked-choice voting elections in non-white majority districts, compared with just 35% in non-white majority districts that use single-choice voting.
  
• Women hold 55% of council seats and 36% of mayors’ offices in cities that use ranked-choice voting, compared to just 43% of council seats and 31% of mayors’ offices in cities that use single-choice voting. 40% of women who win ranked-choice voting elections are women of color.
  
• Young voters ages 18-35 turnout out at significantly higher rates in ranked-choice voting elections. Average voter turnout is 17% higher in cities that use ranked-choice voting.

Read the full article here.