Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The final event as part of series of town halls in Livingston County on “Ranked Choice Voting” is this weekend.

The events are part of Rank MI Vote’s “Bridge the Divide Tour”.

The final town hall is this Saturday, December 13th from 11am to 12pm at the Hartland Cromaine District Library.

The events are free and open to the public. They aim to provide area residents with a clear understanding of how Ranked Choice Voting works, its potential benefits for Michigan’s elections, as well as how it could improve the overall voting experience.

Ranked Choice Voting is a voting method where voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than selecting just one. If no candidate achieves a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes are redistributed based on the next preference. That process continues until a candidate has a majority.

Proponents of RCV argue that it can “reduce negative campaigning, ensure more representative outcomes, and encourage a wider range of candidates to run for office”.

Opponents argue RCVV is confusing, cite potential “ballot exhaustion", and that the final winner may not reflect the initial, true mandate of the first-round public sentiment.

Past town hall-style events were held at libraries in Pinckney, Brighton, and Howell. The events have been hosted at, but not by, the individual libraries.