Recently I have been asked by some people in the community my thoughts and maybe some help in getting ranked choice voting in Sioux Falls. I am opposed to it, but would love to be a part of the conversation.
It’s not that I don’t understand how it works, it’s not as complicated as it may sound.
My opposition is that when I vote for a candidate, that is the candidate I chose. Not only do I rarely have a 2nd and 3rd choice, I sometimes don’t even have a number one choice. I have often left that portion of the ballot blank. A few years ago in a school board election as soon as the ballot was handed to me, I threw it in the box without marking any candidates.
I guess I struggle with electing people based on being ‘second best’. We should only be voting for the people we feel is most qualified, and as a community we should actively be finding ways to recruit the best candidates.
It’s not that we have a problem with the election process in Sioux Falls, we have problem with finding effective leaders to run.