FOR RELEASE: October 9, 2019
Media Contact: Lilly Irvin-Vitela, President and Executive Director, New Mexico First lilly@nmfirst.org
A new voting system that allows voters to rank their candidates instead of just voting for one person is gaining more prominence around the country. “Ranked Choice Voting,” sometimes called “Instant Run-off Voting,” is also being adopted in New Mexico. Santa Fe has already held a municipal election using ranked choice voting, and Las Cruces will be holding its city election using the new voting method in November. Early voting started in Dona Ana County on October 8th. New Mexico First, a nonpartisan organization committed to engaging New Mexicans in public policy and civic life, developed a report on Rank Choice Voting to educate New Mexicans about this new approach to elections. Rank Choice Voting Policy Brief
Lilly Irvin-Vitela, President of New Mexico First, said, “As local municipalities look for ways to increase voter turn-out and participation in our democracy, it is important to provide clear and accurate information. Voters are still learning what Ranked Choice Voting is and how it works. Our commitment to good governance starts with people who are well-informed. Our release of this report on Ranked Choice Voting, not only provides balanced information for voters in Las Cruces about what it is and how it works, it provides information to other municipalities who are considering how they will run elections.”
Past President of the League of Women Voters and member of the New Mexicans for Ethics Coalition, Judy Williams, said, “I moderated the first Ranked Choice Voting mayoral race candidate forum and city council candidate forum in Santa Fe for the League of Women Voters. The tone was better than past forums. All five candidates played nice and asked people to consider them for their second choice if they weren’t going to be the first choice.”
Development of this report was made possible with a grant from the Thornburg Foundation, a funder of New Mexico First’s work on open government. Anyone interested in getting involved New Mexico First and/or New Mexicans for Ethics should contact info@nmfirst.org to learn more.
New Mexico First builds consensus on critical issues facing our state and communities and leads positive policy change through deliberative town halls, forums, and nonpartisan work on education, the economy, healthcare, natural resources and, good governance.
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