LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The folks over at Rank MI Vote have been busy with clipboards and charts, rallying the troops in Michigan to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. They recently were able to recruit more than 2,000 volunteers at more than 30 events across the state in order to start collecting signatures in May. They were able to do so, according to their press release, by harnessing the “energy of massive statewide protests” against President Trump.
In their latest mass email blast – equal parts motivational speech and volunteer recruitment drive – the grassroots group announced an “All-Hands” Statewide Zoom meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 15th, designed to fire up even more troops for their crusade to get their ranked choice voting initiative on the ballot in 2026.
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According to Rank MI Vote, RCV ensures that “candidates with the best ideas – not the biggest bank accounts – have a fair shot at winning.” Rank MI Vote Executive Director Pat Zabawa also said, “In a time of rising turmoil and uncertainty, it’s very clear our current system is wholly incapable of addressing the issues that matter most to voters.”
What exactly is ranked choice voting?
RCV is an election system where voters rank candidates in order of preference – first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on – rather than voting for just one person. If a candidate gets a majority (over 50%) of first-choice votes, they win, just like in a regular election. If no one gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Those who voted for the eliminated candidate have their votes go to their next choice. This process repeats – eliminating the lowest candidate and redistributing their votes – until someone has a majority.
Rank MI Vote is pushing to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan’s federal elections as well as races for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and the state legislature. They also want to give local governments the freedom to opt in. There are five cities who have already passed ranked choice voting measures but haven’t been able to implement them due to restrictions in the state constitution. These cities are Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Ferndale, Kalamazoo and Royal Oak according to the media outlet, Bridge Michigan.
The group hopes to submit the proposed language for the amendment and get it to the Board of State Canvassers at the end of April – and hopefully start collecting signatures around Memorial Day weekend. They will need 446,198 valid signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, but most groups collect additional signatures to make sure they have enough.
Who does it?
As of April 2025, ranked choice voting (RCV) is only happening in three states – and only for certain elections: Alaska uses RCV for federal and state general elections; Hawaii uses RCV for special congressional elections; and Maine uses RCV for federal elections, state general elections, and presidential primaries. Additionally, the District of Columbia will begin using RCV for all elections starting in 2025. Some states allow RCV in specific local elections and six states use it for overseas
voters in runoff contingencies. More than a dozen states have banned RCV statewide as of March 2025.
The group against it.
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There is a group against ranked choice voting. It’s called “Stop RCV.” They say that it benefits those candidates who have more time and access to information – and gives more power to the “elites” while making it harder for everyone else to compete. They add that it also encourages fringe candidates and radical splinter parties and the RCV is slow and relies on technology that many voters don’t trust.
There’s also a specific group in Michigan to stop ranked choice voting called “Stop RCV Michigan.” Their Facebook page is here.
What are the plans of Rank MI Vote?
In their upcoming Zoom meeting for Rank MI Vote, they promise insights on everything from canvassing to coalition-building to collecting the needed signatures. According to Executive Director Pat Zabawa, this is the moment with voters who are “hungry for change” – and to this group, that charge isn’t better candidates or stronger policy ideas – it’s algorithm-based voting tallies.
