PEORIA, Ill. – Voters in Peoria Township will be asked whether or not they want to see changes to how they vote their representatives.
At the annual township meeting on Tuesday evening, a non-binding advisory referendum question for the November ballot in regards to ranked choice voting was approved, 99-56. It was one of two advisory questions up for approval at the meeting, with the other the rejection of placing a question critical of Israel on the ballot.
The ranked choice voting question reads as follows:
“SHOULD THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ADOPT RANKED CHOICE VOTING— A SYSTEM WHICH GIVES VOTERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO RANK MULTIPLE CHOICES IN A PROCESS THAT ENSURES THE WINNER HAS GAINED APPROVAL BY THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS, ALLOWS VOTERS TO VOTE THEIR TRUE PREFERENCE, GETS RID OF THE “SPOILER EFFECT” AND ENCOURAGES MORE POSITIVE CAMPAIGNING—FOR STATEWIDE AND FEDERAL ELECTIONS [sic]”
According to Fair Vote, ranked choice lets voters select their candidates by order of preference, and eliminates the last-place candidate until one person receives more than half of the votes.
Before the vote, Sheldon Schafer spoke in favor of the voting method.
“Ranked choice voting works in all types of elections and supports more representative outcomes. It means better choices, better campaigns, and better representation,” Schafer said.
Other proponents of ranked choice voting at the meeting say it will lead to less combative election campaigns.
But opponents of the measure, such as at-large Peoria City Councilman Zach Oyler, questioned why the process needed to be changed.
“30 years of cumulative voting in the city of Peoria at-large election has proven that we do not change outcomes by manipulating the voting scheme,” Oyler said. “It should be one vote, by one voter, for one candidate.”
Another speaker against the proposal questioned how someone’s second choice would serve the public best.
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