The Independent View: Ranked-Choice Voting Bill Passes First Test in MD

A Bill (HB0624) that would give the Maryland's Montgomery County Council the Authority to Change its Voting System to an alternative Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) method has Cleared its first hurdle in the Maryland Legislature.

The Bill, Sponsored by Montgomery State Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-17th District, Rockville/Gaithersburg) and Del. Eric Luedtke (D-14th District, Burtonsville), would allow the County to Transition Local Elections to a method where Voters Mark their Ballot by Ranking the Candidates in Order of Preference.

The Proposal was Advanced to the Ways and Means Committee for a Hearing Feb. 19th following Unanimous Approval by the Montgomery County Legislative Delegation on Friday.

Kagan said that the Bill had been introduced last year, but only Passed narrowly in the Delegation.

The Unanimous Support this year, she said, was due to the fact that Legislators heard Complaints from Confused Voters who last year faced a Choice of 33 Candidates in the Democratic Primary in the At-Large County Council Race and Six in the County Executive Race.

“It was overwhelming to most voters, and people wanted more options in their ability to show nuance with their ballots,” she said.

Under RCV, the Candidate with more than 50% of First Choice Votes Wins. If No Candidate receives a Majority, the Candidate with the Least votes is out and their Second Choice votes are added to the Remaining Candidates. The Process Repeats, with Third Choice, etc., until a Candidate receives a Majority of Votes and any remaining votes will not change the Winners Margin of Victory.

During Friday’s Delegation Session, the Bill was Amended to Require a Public Education Campaign if the Legislation is Approved by the House of Delegates and Senate.

Kagan said she doesn’t believe the New Method is too hard to learn, equating it with choosing an alternative type of pie for dessert.

“You go to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, and she didn’t make the pecan pie, but the apple pie is really good, and the blueberry pie is good too… we do that all the time. In the same way people do that with their candidates. So I don’t think this is going to be foreign,” she said.