Ranked Choice Voting Is Democracy+

This is what I learned voting in the NYC Primary.

One citizen one vote — multiplied by twenty-five. I take my ballot and walk across the lunch room in the middle school on 76th. I’m doing one of my favorite things. Voting. Making a choice. Excercising my duty as a citizen.

I pull out my iPhone and open up the Notes app. There’s lists. Mayor. Comptroller. Public Advocate. Borough President. City Council. And under each category there are five names.

A month before the election I hate ranked choice voting. I bitch about it on social media. Ranked choice voting is more votes than I need.

I’m an engaged, careful, thoughtful voter. I’ve never cast a single vote for anyone I haven’t thoroughly vetted. I watch debates. I hunt up interviews. I’m an issues voter. Climate crisis. Human rights. Character is important to me. It’s not parties that matter to me, or policies, it’s how a person handles a crisis. Experience is critical. I’d never vote for someone with no experience. It makes no sense to me to hire someone for a job they’ve never done.

Endorsements are meaningless. Other people’s opinion is pointless. Talking heads are nonsense. I do my own research and I make my own choice.