Episode 178: Methods of Voting
We are aware of the fight for and civic actions we should take to protect voting rights. But how much thought do we give to our method of voting? Right now, we mostly use plurality voting, in which the winner takes all, yet there are other methods too. L. Joy nerds out on this episode with Aaron Hamlin to discuss Approval Voting as a voting method. First, Nakita Hemmingway is featured in the Vote Mama Candidate Spotlight.
Homework:
Know Voting Methods
Plurality Voting - https://ballotpedia.org/Plurality_voting_system
Ranked-Choice Voting - https://ballotpedia.org/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)
Proportional Representation - https://ballotpedia.org/Proportional_representation
Vote Mama Candidate Spotlight:
A Georgia native, Nakita Hemmingway is an entrepreneur, small business owner, and a farmer. She attended Georgia State University for Real estate and then the American Intercontinental University where she received a degree in finance. Nakita is a strong advocate for reforming land use rights so that they provide protection to smaller, urban farms against large, corporate farms as global warming will require the need for diversified farming interests. She also believes in expanding Medicaid, availability of affordable housing, economic growth and small business reform, and strengthening our public schools.
Our Guest:
Aaron Hamlin is the executive director and co-founder of The Center for Election Science, a non-profit looking to get the approval voting system implemented in cities across the country. So far, Aaron and his team have won campaigns for approval voting in St Louis, Missouri and Fargo, North Dakota. They recently launched a campaign to bring approval voting to the ballot in Seattle. He’s been featured as an electoral systems expert on MSNBC.com, NPR, Free Speech TV, Inside Philanthropy, 80K Hours, Popular Mechanics, and has given talks across the country on voting methods. He’s written on election topics for Deadspin, USA Today Magazine, Independent Voter Network, and others. Additionally, Aaron is a licensed attorney with two additional graduate degrees in the social sciences. Aaron’s other interests include defeating lock systems, playing chess, and training jiu-jitsu.
