A group seeking to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to enact ranked choice voting in Michigan said this week it recruited more than 2,000 volunteers last weekend and hopes to be able to begin collecting signatures next month.
Rank MI Vote, which aims to place the proposal on the ballot in 2026, said it signed up 2,021 volunteers at 31 events across the state.
The group in a release said it had “harnessed the energy of massive statewide protests” that were held last weekend in communities across the state in opposition to the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration to secure more supporters for its proposal, which, if enacted, would make Michigan the third state to have ranked choice voting.
“In a time of rising turmoil and uncertainty, it’s very clear our current system is wholly incapable of addressing the issues that matter most to voters,” Rank MI Vote Executive Director Pat Zabawa said in a Tuesday statement. “When thousands of Michiganders said yes to Rank MI Vote in a single weekend, it’s a clear sign that people are hungry for real, tangible change – and ready to get their hands dirty to make it happen.”
Zabawa said the group is working to complete its proposed language and submit it to the Board of State Canvassers later this month.
“Rank MI Vote continues to anticipate that our amendment language will be approved at the May meeting of the Board of State Canvassers, with signature collection beginning around Memorial Day weekend,” Zabawa said. “We’re moving with all deliberate haste to send the language to the Board in late April.”
Ranked choice voting involves ranking all candidates for an office by preference. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, the candidate obtaining the fewest votes is eliminated and another round of voting is held.
In the second round of voting, ballots with the eliminated candidate as the first choice are tallied with the second-choice candidate, with the process repeating itself until a candidate receives a majority of votes.
The concept is similar to a runoff, a process used in some states when no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round.
To obtain ballot access, Rank MI Vote would need to collect at least 446,198 valid voter signatures for its proposed constitutional amendment.
Supporters of the concept have said it would reduce political polarization and lead to more candidates winning office who better represent the wishes of voters. It has also been stated the change would spur higher voter turnout.
The National Conference of State Legislatures said Alaska, Maine and the District of Columbia use ranked choice voting for all elections, while California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Utah and Virginia allow the option for some local elections.
The use of ranked choice voting is also banned in 13 states.
Stop RCV, a group opposed to ranked choice voting states on its website that the process is more complicated for voters in that one may have to do additional research on candidates to make more informed choices.
“This benefits those who have more time and access to information – in short, RCV gives more power to elites while making it harder for everyone else,” the group states online.
The group adds that ranked choice ballots take longer to fill out, causing delays at polling locations.
It also is more complicated for election workers to administer, the group said, requiring special election equipment to tabulate ranked choice ballots and additional costs for training election workers.
Questions have also been raised by Stop RVC over transparency including in tabulating results by computer and in handling recounts, particularly hand recounts.
– By Nick Smith
