1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Dear Governor Newsom, I am writing to urge you to reconsider your opposition to Ranked Choice Voting and, more broadly, to support alternatives to single-member, plurality elections, commonly known as First Past the Post. This is the dominant electoral system across California and the United States, and it is a central structural driver of political dysfunction. First Past the Post rewards polarization, discourages coalition-building, and consistently elevates candidates who appeal to narrow, highly motivated bases rather than the broad electorate. It incentivizes negative campaigning, strategic voting, and zero-sum politics. Over time, it concentrates power, amplifies money in politics, and creates fertile ground for extremist movements that can win with minority support. These outcomes are not cultural accidents. They are predictable consequences of the voting system itself. Ranked Choice Voting is a practical, voter-friendly alternative that directly addresses these failures. Under Ranked Choice Voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed to the voters’ next choices. This process continues until one candidate earns a majority. Voters are never forced to choose between “the lesser of two evils,” and winning candidates must appeal to a majority, not just a plurality. The benefits are well-documented and intuitive: • Candidates must earn broader support, not just energize a base • Negative campaigning is discouraged, since alienating opponents’ supporters is counterproductive • Voters gain more meaningful choices without fear of “spoiling” elections • Extremist or fringe candidates struggle to win without majority backing • Public confidence improves because outcomes better reflect collective will Many peer democracies, as well as U.S. cities and states, already use ranked or proportional systems and consistently show lower levels of polarization and corruption, higher voter satisfaction, and greater political stability. These systems do not rely on norms of good behavior to function. They embed accountability directly into the electoral process. This matters especially now. Everything you have done, and said you intend to do, to resist authoritarianism, political extremism, and minority rule is made harder by First Past the Post. Structural reform is not a distraction from defending democracy. It is a prerequisite for it. Ranked Choice Voting is not radical. It is not partisan. It is a modest, understandable reform that aligns incentives with outcomes we all claim to want: accountability, legitimacy, and governance rooted in majority consent. California should be leading on this issue, not standing in the way. I urge you to publicly support Ranked Choice Voting and other proven alternatives to plurality elections, and to stop using the power of your office to block local and statewide efforts to modernize our democracy.