This episode brings to light the way U.S. elections really work, such as how plurality votes are not favorable or equitable, the crucial importance of local (municipal) voting, the stats and history (and effectiveness) of mail-in/absentee voting, and the emerging concept (and practice of) ranked-choice voting.
Disclosure: We are not experts/professionals. We are middle-aged college students who research our information thoroughly and bring in experts/professionals and other contributors as our special guests from time to time. We do not endorse any person or brand in this episode. This is currently a listener-supported podcast and we would like to keep it that way. VOTE. Because complaining doesn’t bring change
Citation Credits:
Grist.org stats on voting percentages for general/midterm/municipal elections:
https://grist.org/guides/umbra-apathy-detox/cast-a-vote-that-really-matters/
Congressional, midterm & local election info:
https://www.usa.gov/midterm-state-and-local-elections WA State elected officials descriptions/duties: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/descriptionsofelectedoffices.aspx
States’ current practices of mail-in/absentee voting:
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/501577-heres-where-your-state-stands-on-mail-in-voting
Fraud stats with mail-in/absentee voting:
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/02/low-rates-of-fraud-in-vote-by-mail-states-show-the-benefits-outweigh-the-risks/ Breakdown of votes for the 2016 presidential election:
https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_candidates,_2016
https://www.electionscience.org/commentary-analysis/approval-voting-smarter-elections-2016-approval-versus-plurality/
2018 voter turnout and alternate voting method stats
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/04/behind-2018-united-states-midterm-election-turnout.html
Municipal (local) primary/runoff election dates by state:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2020-state-primary-election-dates.aspx#Chronological
Election Officials by state:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/election-administration-at-state-and-local-levels.aspx
Making D.C. a state:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/20/democrats-are-considering-making-dc-state-heres-what-it-would-take/
2016 Plurality voting outcomes (with mention of the RCV concept)
https://www.fairvote.org/plurality_outcomes_in_the_presidential_election How Ranked-Choice Voting works http://www.rcvmaine.com/how_does_ranked_choice_voting_work
Ranked Choice Voting- states and cities that have implemented RCV:
https://ballotpedia.org/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)
Maine Governor Campaign Ad 2018:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/06/12/maine-will-try-a-whole-new-way-of-voting-on-tuesday/
Music Credits: Backbeat Planet, Alexandra Woodward (epidemicsound.com) & Angel Share, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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