Thu 2/23 @ 11:30AM
The City Club is hosting a youth forum called “Choice Matters: What Changing Political Landscape Means for Gen Z”.
But it seems to be less about how to engage young voters, who typically don’t show up at the polls in large numbers, than to promote a certain rather arcane election reform called “Ranked Choice Voting,” where voters rank the candidates in order of preference. It’s been used in a handful of local elections, most prominently in Maine and Alaska, where there’s already an attempt to repeal it.
“Rank choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting or preferential voting, is a voting system believed to be an answer to our current voting system,” the City Club’s promotion for the forum claims. “If expanded, could this bring about a more diverse, inclusive ballot, better reflecting the U.S. population overall?”
Probably not. In the face of radical gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts sweeping the country and specifically, Ohio, changes such as ranked choice voting are unlikely to activate voters of any age, and certainly not younger voters when states such as Texas pass laws allowing gun permits to be used as voter ID but not student IDs. If you can’t access the ballot, it doesn’t matter how the candidates appear on it. (Student ID is not accepted in Ohio either.)
“What changes could be made and implemented to be sure voting Americans truly feel their voice are heard, while also being sure our ballots truly reflect the most pressing and pertinent issues in the U.S.?” they ask. The dilemma is that changes are made when your voices are heard at the ballot box, not vice versa. So when Gen Z doesn’t vote, elected officials don’t care what they want.
Speakers include League of Women Voters Ohio executive director Jen Miller, a noted expert on elections who’ll hopefully bring up how gerrymandering and pointless ID restrictions discourage voters of all ages, and Kyle Herman, who, unsurprisingly, is the director of Rank the Vote Ohio. Zoe Ellenbogen moderates.
The forum will be livestreamed starting at noon. If you have questions tweet @TheCityClub or text 330-541-5794.
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