1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support ranked choice voting as a solution to the polarization and stagnation that has paralyzed our political system. Our current election process forces voters into binary choices that don't reflect the complexity of their views, and it rewards candidates who appeal to the most extreme voices rather than building broad coalitions. We can do better. Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates by preference, ensuring that winners achieve majority support. When no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their voters' second choices are redistributed until someone reaches a majority. This simple change fundamentally alters campaign incentives. Candidates must reach beyond their base and appeal to voters across the political spectrum, knowing they need second and third-choice support to win. If we genuinely want to unify this country, we need election systems that reward unity. If we want leaders who represent the broadest possible coalition, we need voting methods that make coalition-building necessary for victory. Our current system does the opposite. It rewards division, encourages candidates to demonize opponents, and produces winners who represent only a plurality of voters while the majority remains unsatisfied. The question isn't whether ranked choice voting is perfect. The question is whether we're serious about the values we claim to hold. Do we actually want social progress, or are we content with stagnation? Do we want leaders who govern for all constituents, or just for their partisan base? Do we want to reduce polarization, or maintain a system that makes it worse? Alaska has used ranked choice voting successfully since 2020. Nevada and Oregon voters will decide whether to adopt it in 2024. Meanwhile, ten states have preemptively banned it, closing the door on reform before communities can even experiment with solutions. I urge you to support ranked choice voting and give voters the power to elect leaders who truly represent the majority.