| Zaneta Adams | Michigan Advance |
Eight years in the U.S. military taught me that the mission only succeeds when everyone is working toward the same goal, even when we don’t agree on every detail of how to get there. This lesson has stayed with me through every chapter of my life since: as a lawyer representing veterans fighting for the benefits they earned, as the first woman veteran appointed to a Michigan governor’s cabinet, and as a mother of six.
”Shared values and mission
Now, as Director of Partnerships at Veterans for All Voters, where I work to protect and strengthen our democracy for future generations, it has become clear to me that ranked choice voting is one of the most promising reforms out there to help focus decision-makers and voters on our shared values and mission.
While ranked choice voting is already being used to give more choice and more voice to 17 million U.S. voters in 23 states, Michigan leaders and voters would like to experience it in local elections before deciding whether it might be beneficial for use in elections to higher offices.
Voters in five Michigan cities have already adopted ranked choice voting for local elections, but conflicting language in state law has prevented local use. Rank MI Vote is leading a broad-based coalition of civil rights, voting rights, good government, and pro-democracy groups to pass legislation in the next Michigan Legislature to remedy this and protect the integrity of Home Rule and local control of elections.