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jordanlund @lemmy.world

3mo ago

Portland’s ranked-choice debut causes voter engagement to crater; 1 in 5 who cast ballots chose no one for City Council

www.oregonlive.com Portland’s ranked-choice debut causes voter engagement to crater; 1 in 5 who cast ballots chose no one for City Council

A substantial share of Portland residents who voted in last week’s election left their preference for mayor or City Council entirely blank.

Portland’s ranked-choice debut causes voter engagement to crater; 1 in 5 who cast ballots chose no one for City Council

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21917446

Ballot in question:
Mayor:

District 1:

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88 comments

Good.
That means it's working as intended.
The people who are too dumb to use RCV have no business influencing policy with their votes.
- people with poor reading comprehension or who just dont have the time to stare at a ballot for more than a couple minutes still deserve representation. just because someone's circumstances differ from yours doesn't make it good if they don't have a voice
  
  Those voters... how good do you think they are at resisting disinformation?
  
  what do you propose
  
  Using rcv to dissuade the uninformed voters, so the disinformed voters aren't enough to elect a demagogue.
- I don't think you know what democracy means...
  
  I don't think you know that we are a Democratic Republic.
  
  So is North Korea.
  
  https://volokh.com/2012/11/06/the-case-for-abstaining-from-voting-on-issues-where-you-are-ignorant/
  It would be dangerous to give government the power to forcibly exclude ignorant voters from the franchise. Incumbent political leaders could too easily abuse it to exclude their political opponents or to target unpopular minorities. But there is no such danger if a voter voluntarily chooses not to vote in a particular race because he or she decides they don’t have enough knowledge to vote responsibly.

88 comments