The Independent View: NH RCV House Bill 1540

A New Hampshire Lawmaker has presented a Bill to bring Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) to the Granite State.

The Proposal, House Bill 1540, would allow Voters in a Race with more than Two Candidates seeking a Single Office, such as in Party Primaries, to Rank the Candidates in Order of Preference rather than just choosing the one they want to Win. The Winner would emerge from a Repeated calculation of all Voters’ Rankings.

The Prime Sponsor of the Bill, Ellen Read (D-17th District), noted that variations of this Voting Method are used in some Cities around the Country, including Cambridge, MA, as well as in a number of Professional Organizations and even in a few National elections, notably for the Australian Parliament. “It more effectively and accurately reflects the will of the voter,” She said. “It gives more choice.” “The 2016 (presidential) election really showed this,” She said. “We had two of the most reviled presidential candidates that had ever run. ... The majority of people cast a negative vote against the other party, rather than voting their conscience for whom they truly want.”

Her Bill, which has co-Sponsors from both Major Parties, would install RCV for all Federal and State Offices, including State Representative, as well as for Party Primaries. It would not affect Local Elections.

The idea of alternative Voting Systems with names like Instant-Runoff and Preferential Balloting has been floated before in New Hampshire, with no success. The idea is particularly attractive to Independents and Small-Party Candidates, who see it as a way to loosen the hold that the Two Major Parties have on the Political system.

Maine became the first State in the Nation to embrace RCV last November, when 52% of Voters approved a Referendum that would institute it for certain Statewide Races. That Program is on hold, however, because the State Supreme Court said it Violates a Provision of the State Constitution that allows Elections to be decided by a Plurality, not necessarily a Majority, of Votes. Maine Lawmakers tried to Pass a Bill killing the Idea, but it was Tabled, leaving the Program in something of a Legal Limbo. There is a Petition Drive to Override the Legislature Hold but it will need to update the State's Constitution.

“The main drawback is that it’s slightly more complex than the system we have,” She said. “It’s important to start the conversation on it, to get people thinking about the benefit and harm of different systems. New Hampshire would have to become educated and realize what they’re getting into before we do it.”

Read, who Co-Founded a group called New Hampshire Independent Voters Association, said RCV can Weaken the Hold of the Two Parties. “It allows us to choose people who most closely reflect our beliefs, who genuinely think of what is right, rather than what their party says,” She said.

One Complexity in New Hampshire State Representative Races is that many Seats have Multiple Members. The Bill would handle this by giving Equal Weight to a Ballot’s Top Choices Equal to the Number of Seats that are Open. For example, in a Ballot for a Race with Three Seats Open, the No.1, No. 2 and No. 3 Choice would all be counted as a Top Choices when doing the calculations.

Read Acknowledged that many Different systems exist and that none of them solve all the Problems inherent in Reflecting the Opinion of the Population as a Whole, something that has been proved Mathematically through what is known as Arrow’s Theorem. But She said our Current Method, sometimes called “first past the post,” can be Improved. “There’s no perfect system,’ She said. “We’re trying to make it better; that’s the whole point of it.”

CLICK HERE for more information about NH Bill 1540.