| Samuel J. Robinson ∙ mlive |
LANSING, MI — Legislation introduced by Michigan House members would allow communities to implement what’s known as a ranked-choice voting system where voters rank candidates on the ballot by order of their preference.
Language in Michigan’s home rule act and the state’s election law currently prevent local governments from implementing the voting method.
”In a lot of ways (ranked-choice) is more democratic than the traditional voting style
“These are just technical fixes to allow local officials to be able to do it if they want to,” Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, said of the bill package.
HB 5645, Weiss’ bill, taken with HB 5644 and HB 5646 would authorize communities to enact the use of ranked-choice voting for city offices.
In 2019, the City of Eastpointe, Michigan made history after it held its first citywide election using ranked-choice as the result of a settlement with a federal court, which allowed it to bypass the state law impeding other Michigan cities from implementing it. The city adopted a proportional ranked-choice method for its city council elections as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Federal Voting Rights Act.
