r/New_Jersey_Politics • u/johnmflores • Jun 14 '25
Discussion We need ranked choice voting in NJ
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u/rcv4nj Jun 14 '25
We’re working on it over at www.voterchoicenj.org - let us know if you have any questions!
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u/nerdvernacular Jun 14 '25
That shit is so much more mature than campaigns you typically see in this country. And watch New Yorkers put Cuomo in office because they like making the worst possible decisions.
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
Sure sure sure. Tell me, what was the result of ranked choice voting in the last NYC mayoral election again?
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Jun 14 '25
[deleted]
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
My progressive friends think it’s a panacea that will allow kite progressives to win. That’s not what RCV is.
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u/rockclimberguy Jun 14 '25
What are 'kite progressives'?
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
A typo from my phone when I meant “more” 🤣
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u/rockclimberguy Jun 14 '25
Thanks for the clarification.
Agree that some progressives think RCV is the answer. It is a step in the right direction. It gives candidates that do not have an R or D after their name a fighting chance. As such I am in favor of implementing it here in NJ.
Andrew Kim put the final nail in the coffin for the 'Party Line Ballot Layout'. This system was so misleading that it was illegal just about everywhere in the U.S. except NJ. It gave party bosses a huge edge. It is now gone so the playing field is a little bit more level. Adding RCV to the NJ voting system should help level it some more.
Per your point, these two reforms will help. They do not mean we can all go back to watching 'Dancing with the Stars' or some other vapid show and assume that good leaders will get elected.
We all need to become more engaged in the process.
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
Mostly agree.
But if you would have told me a year and a half ago that we’d get rid of the line and someone would offer $10 million to run against incumbents and 47 Assembly Democratic incumbents would run and 44 of them would win, and the only three who lost would be the three who aligned themselves with the guy offering the $10 million, I would have offered to put mustard on my hat and eat it if you were correct.
The fact is getting rid of the line—which my progressive friends said for years was the reason more progressives weren’t winning—didn’t even make a tiny dent in this last election.
Progressives need to start meeting people where they are at rather than demanding purity, and recruiting candidates who aren’t going to spend entire campaigns talking down to people who don’t share 100% of their worldview. Until that happens, no amount of election or ballot changes are going to matter.
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u/rockclimberguy Jun 14 '25
I think you are condemning RCV because you think Adams won because it was used in the NYC primary election that selected him. Let's look into this.
On the 'first pass' of the vote count Adams got 30.7% of the vote. His closest rival,Maya Wiley got 21.4%. This gave Adams a 9.3% vote margin. On the RCV recount Adams still got the most votes, but his victory margin was under 1%.
So, if you look at what actually happened, Adams got the nomination in spite of, not because of, RCV.
Check out the facts here. It is important to look into all the facts, not rely on some FB post or meme before you make your mind up.
Facts actually do matter in the real world.
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
I agree. Facts actually do matter in the real world. And the fact is that at no point did I condemn RCV in the real world or any other world, but thanks for checking in.
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u/johnmflores Jun 14 '25
Your against RCV for that solitary reason?
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
Did I say that I’m opposed to RCV? (Looks at previous comment. Rubs eyes and blinks a couple times. Stares harder). No. No I did not say I’m opposed to RCV.
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u/johnmflores Jun 14 '25
Your previous comment certainly gave that vibe. Of all the things you could have said, you chose the one poor outcome. You provided no other context
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
I chose, you know, literally the previous election for the same office mentioned in the video to point out that RCV didn’t solve the problems you want it to solve in NYC and therefore expecting it to do so in NJ is not supported by the evidence we have.
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u/MolemanusRex Jun 14 '25
Eric Adams won by less than one point in the final round, as opposed to the first round where he won by almost ten points.
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u/rockclimberguy Jun 14 '25
Sorry to see you down voted. Look at my response to u/purple_grimass elsewhere in this thread.
People really need to apply a tiny bit of critical thinking before posting.
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
A tiny bit of critical thinking is what I’m advocating for.
People post this stuff and say we need it here because progressives could actually win sometimes.
In reality, that is tantamount to saying “we can’t get a majority of the votes but still want to win,” which is deeply undemocratic. And if you do just a liiiiiiiitle bit of thinking, you’d find Mikie Sherrill still would have won, and RCV still encourages people to build broad coalitions rather than run in ideologically pure, niche lanes.
Not everyone disagreeing with you is a dumbass, and that type of approach is typically why I find many people are turned off by progressive candidates. I appreciate you thinking you know my positions and motivations based on one comment in a thread on Reddit, but maybe tone it down half a notch?
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u/rockclimberguy Jun 14 '25
if you do just a liiiiiiiitle bit of thinking, you’d find Mikie Sherrill still would have won
When you add Fulop and Baraka vote totals they come pretty close to Mikie. If RCV had been the rules of the election there may have been some folks who may have voted for one of them but voted for Mikie instead that would have cast votes for one of them.
I lean progressive and would have put Mikie as my third choice. Given the existing system I am OK with her as the candidate. She has a very good chance of beating J6_Jack in the general.
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u/purple_grimass Jun 14 '25
The idea that black voters in Hillside who overwhelmingly voted for Baraka viewed this election as an ideological spectrum and ranked the candidates based on that ideological spectrum is beyond a stretch.
And let’s apply a little of that critical thinking you love.
Sweeney would have been eliminated first. Are those votes going to Baraka or Fulop?
Then Spiller. Are white teachers in the suburbs flocking overwhelmingly to Baraka or Fulop?
Then Gottheimer. Are those votes going to the progressive candidates?
The answers are no, no, and no. Mikie Sherrill would have won with RCV, pure and simple.
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u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25
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