Ranked choice voting on ballot in November for Kalamazoo voters

| Marie Weidmayer | mlive |

KALAMAZOO, MI – Kalamazoo residents will decide if they want a new way to elect the mayor and commissioners.

Ranked choice voting, a system where voters rank candidates in order of preference, will be on the Nov. 7 ballot in the city of Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo City Commission voted unanimously Monday, Aug. 7, to allow the proposal on the ballot.

“I would just urge people to take a look at this,” Commissioner Chris Praedel said. “There is significant literature that shows that in many, many cases where ranked choice voting has been implemented, there has been a boon in better representation of women and people of color in office.”