It is time for the Lewiston City Council to pass an amendment to the City Charter and send it to the voters to use ranked choice voting for electing city officials.

We need our municipal elections to be more efficient, more representative, fairer, and more economical.

With ranked choice, we will go to the polls once to choose our mayor, councilors, and school board members.

Ranked choice voting allows us to name our first choice for a city office, and also to indicate any other candidates in order of our preference whom we could support. The candidate with the most first, second, and third choice votes, wins the election once the total votes are more than 50%. And, they win the election with a strong show of support.

In our present system, because voter turnout can decline by more than half when a run-off election is needed, a small number of voters are choosing who will serve in key decision-making positions.

Run-off elections double the cost of choosing our officials. Run-offs are divisive, and they delay the new officials getting to work for our city.

We already use ranked choice voting in our primary elections, and for choosing our U.S. senators and representatives.  That has ensured that the candidate with a true majority of support is the winner.

We have the opportunity to improve our city’s democratic process with ranked choice voting.

Let’s do it.

Peg Hoffman, Lewiston