Governor Forms Group To Push Ranked-Choice Voting

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News release from Governor Lamont:

Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is establishing a working group consisting of members representing various political affiliations and tasking them with exploring options and developing a comprehensive legislative proposal to create a system that enables municipalities and political parties in Connecticut with the ability to use ranked-choice voting in caucuses, conventions, primaries, and certain municipal elections.

Current state law does not enable the use of ranked-choice voting in any primaries or elections. The governor is asking the group – which will be known as the Governor’s Working Group on Ranked-Choice Voting – to develop a report of recommendations by the end of the year so that its findings can be considered by the Connecticut General Assembly during the 2025 regular session.

“Ranked-choice voting is an increasingly popular procedure among various political parties that enables voters to have all their preferences fully considered when choosing candidates for elected office,” Governor Lamont said. “It has been used with success in other states throughout the U.S. for many years, and there is a growing consensus in Connecticut that enacting this system here will benefit our voters. I want this multipartisan working group to review how those systems operate, ascertain best practices, and collaboratively determine the best way that it can be implemented in Connecticut so that our municipalities and political parties have this option available to them.”

Governor Lamont is appointing State Senator Cathy Osten, a Democrat, and State Senator Tony Hwang, a Republican, to serve as its co-chairs.

“Ranked-choice voting is gaining in popularity across the country, but its pros and cons really haven’t been explored in Connecticut,” Senator Osten said. “My hope is that this working group will collect the information necessary to make specific recommendations and hopefully improve voter turnout in Connecticut.”

“I want to thank Governor Lamont for initiating this ranked-choice voting working group,” Senator Hwang said. “Through this bipartisan process, we hope to learn how ranked-choice voting can give the voters of Connecticut a stronger and more representative voice in their local elections. Voters across the state are calling for an electoral process that allows for more viewpoints, without feeling like voting for a third party is a throwaway. I am looking forward to some productive discussions coming out of the working group to explore how ranked-choice voting can best be implemented in Connecticut. The ultimate goal is more electoral participation that reflects voters’ representative will and democratic governance.”

There are 29 states that use ranked-choice voting in certain primaries and elections, and in recent years its use was implemented broadly and successfully in Maine and Alaska.

In 2023, legislation drafted by bipartisan co-sponsors was introduced in Connecticut that, among other things, would have given municipalities the option of using ranked-choice voting in municipal elections for single-winner offices and would have given political parties the option of using ranked-choice voting in presidential preference primaries. That bill – Senate Bill 389 – received a public hearing in the Government Administration and Elections Committee, however the committee did not take a vote to advance the bill before its deadline.

The Governor’s Working Group on Ranked-Choice Voting will initially consist of the following members, and its membership may be expanded to include representatives of other major political parties and others, as appropriate:

  • Co-Chair: State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague)
  • Co-Chair: State Senator Tony Hwang (R-Fairfield)
  • Vice Chair: Monte Frank (Attorney at Pullman & Comley, past present of the Connecticut Bar Association, and 2018 candidate for lieutenant governor under the Griebel-Frank for CT Party)
  • Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz or designee
  • Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas or designee
  • State Representative Aundré Bumgardner (D-Groton, Stonington)
  • State Representative Hilda Santiago (D-Meriden)
  • Annalisa Stravato (Republican registrar of voters for the Town of Wilton, executive vice president of the Registrar of Voters Association of Connecticut, and former vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party)
  • Alexander Russell (Director of the UConn Center for Voting Technology Research)
  • Dan Rosenthal (Former Democratic first selectman for the Town of Newtown)
  • Lindsay Farrell (Senior political strategist for the national Working Families Party)
  • Ann Reed (Vice president of advocacy for the League of Women Voters of Connecticut)
  • Patricia Spruance (Town clerk for the Town of Windham and president of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association)
  • Cheri Quickmire (Executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut)

The group is tentatively planning to hold its inaugural meeting on June 14, 2024. Its meetings will be open to the public.

The legislature’s 2025 regular session begins on January 8, 2025.

Statement from Connecticut Voters First on the Formation of the Governor’s Working Group on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)

“We applaud Governor Lamont and the bi-partisan Co-Chairs of this working group, Senator Tony Hwang and Senator Catherine Osten, for charting a path for progress on this important issue. Ranked Choice Voting will create more choice, giving voters a stronger voice in the outcome of elections and greater confidence that their vote will make a difference.

In light of our recent adoption of increased early voting, we believe that a first-step forward should allow for Ranked Choice Voting in Presidential preference primaries.  Under our current single choice system, huge numbers of early voters literally lose their vote entirely when they cast their early vote for a candidate who drops out after the ballot is cast and before the primary.  In 2020, three million Democrat voters nationally (8%) lost their vote in this fashion. Ranked Choice Voting eliminates this serious “zombie” vote problem by counting the vote for the early voter’s back up candidate.  – Scott Muller, Chairman, Connecticut Voters First

“I look forward to contributing and serving on the Governor’s working group on this important election reform. Our state has recently advanced some important voting reforms to protect voters, modernize the process, and provide for greater participation; RCV is the next logical step. Where Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) has been adopted, it has increased the number of viable candidates, increased voter participation, reduced extremism, improved the character of campaigns, and ensured that the winning candidate had the support of a majority.” – Monte Frank, Vice-Chair of the Governor’s working group

About CT Voters First:

Connecticut Voters First is a not-for-profit organization with the singular focus of passing Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) legislation in Connecticut. The schedule of meetings for the working group will be posted on the CT Voters First website as soon as it becomes available at https://ctvotersfirst.org.

Scott Muller is the Founder and Chairman of Connecticut Voters First and serves as senior counsel at Davis Polk after 26 years as a partner in the litigation practice. He has previously worked as General Counsel to the Central Intelligence Agency and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Monte E. Frank will serve as the Vice Chair of the Governor’s working group on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). He is also co-chair of Pullman & Comley’s Litigation practice. Monte is an advocate for democracy reform, working to improve our elections and bring accountability to government. He serves on the America Bar Association’s Advisory Commission to the Task Force on Democracy by presidential appointment. He was the Lt. Gov. candidate in 2018 on the Griebel-Frank for CT ballot line.

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