Letter to the Editor

Vote Yes on 2 – Ranked Choice Voting

Dear Editor,

I have already voted Yes on Ballot Question 2 – Ranked Choice Voting, and I urge those who will be voting on Election Day, November 3rd, to do the same.  Ranked Choice Voting in Massachusetts will ensure majority support, expand voter choice, promote diverse candidates, and encourage positive campaigns.

For twenty years, I served on the Board of Common Cause Massachusetts, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting elections and holding government accountable.  Common Cause MA has been a longtime advocate of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) because it is a common-sense change in elections that will allow voters to rank candidates for a political office in the order they prefer them.

With Ranked Choice Voting, you can choose one candidate, like you always have, or you can rank all (or just some) of the candidates in order of your preference.  If a candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, then he or she wins.  If there is no majority, the last place candidate is eliminated, and the voters who picked that candidate as their first choice will have their votes counted for their second choice, if indicated.  This process continues until a candidate wins with more than half of the votes (a majority).

With Ranked Choice Voting, you eliminate the concern about “spoiler” candidates, you vote for your favorite candidate and not the “lesser of two evils”, and you encourage more candidates to run for office without fear of vote-splitting.

Yes on 2 has been endorsed by The Boston Globe and other newspapers across the state, the League of Women Voters, MassVOTE, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey, Attorney General Maura Healy, former Governor Bill Weld, 87 Members of the Massachusetts State Legislature, the American Federation of Teachers MA, SEIU Local 888, and the Sierra Club of Massachusetts.  The Boston Globe stated: “With Question 2, Bay State voters can make our government far more representative of the will of the people.”  Ranked Choice Voting ensures the winning candidate is the one with the broadest appeal to the majority of voters.

Bill Schmidt

On Voting

Dear Editor,

Concerning page 6, The Winthrop Transcript,Thursday, October 22.

I like the cartoon. I voted early and the cartoon looks like where I voted.

I voted on Tuesday, October 20 without the cartoon and the advice of Mr. Caruccio just below the cartoon. So I didn’t have the opportunity to “think seriously about whether America would continue to be the shining city on the hill or another Socialist Oligarchy.” However I  never learned that  America was  “the shining city on the hill” or what a socialist oligarchy is. I did think seriously before  I voted.

Lee Fich

Thank you

Dear Editor,

The Braverman Family would like to thank all the teachers and administrators for their dedication, hard work and diligence in creating a virtual platform in which our children can learn.

I believe it is up to us, the parents, the extended family and all who are on the other side of this learning process to maintain their efforts in a positive manner with a “can do” spirit; we must, for the sake of the children.

I realize the stress, exhaustion and overwhelming angst the pandemic has brought upon us all. I believe our positivity will be felt by our children and can only aid in the tireless efforts of our educators.

Good luck, God bless and remember we can and will survive these times.

Cathy Braverman

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