On July 11, 2024, Mark Lautman, with Rank Choice Voting Maryland (RCV Maryland), will join us to share what ranked choice voting is, and is not. RCV Maryland is a non-partisan, grassroots coalition seeking to build a more effective, representative democracy through ranked choice voting. Their goal is to have better elections where every voice is heard. An alternative to the Electoral College, which has been problematic in recent elections, this topic was suggested by members at our April meeting.  

According to the Ranked Choice Voting Center, ranked choice voting (RCV) is a proven voting method that has been used for major elections in the U.S. and other countries for over a century. Proportional RCV was invented in the 1850s as a proportional representation system to be used in multi-winner elections. In the 1870s, it was adapted to the single-winner form. It is sometimes referred to as instant runoff voting (IRV), preferential voting, proportional representation, single transferable vote (STV), and a number of other names. 

On July 11 we will be at Exploration Commons with the doors opening at 6:00 p.m., and the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. We'll have a brief business meeting, then turn the podium over to Mark Lautman.