00:00 This podcast episode is about how ranked choice voting works.

04:42 Australia, Malta, and Ireland are the only countries that utilize ranked choice voting, with Australia having used it for over a century.

09:07 Ranked choice voting is a potential solution to the winner-takes-all system in the United States, where voters can inadvertently hand the election to their least favorite candidate, and it involves ranking candidates in order of preference.

14:17 Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, and if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the candidate with the least support is eliminated and their votes are redistributed until a candidate achieves a majority.

19:12 Ranked choice voting redistributes votes from eliminated candidates to the remaining candidates in order to achieve a majority and avoid situations where a candidate wins with a low percentage of the vote, incentivizing candidates to reach out to as many voters as possible.

23:56 Maine has had a history of governors being elected with less than 50% of the vote, and the current governor just vetoed a bill for ranked choice voting, which has been met with opposition from incumbent politicians who fear losing elections without the polarized winner-takes-all system. However, there has been a record turnout in Maine due to the implementation of ranked choice voting, and a study from the University of Missouri showed a 10% higher turnout in cities that used ranked choice voting compared to those that didn't. While ranked choice voting requires a more informed voter, it is not significantly more difficult than regular voting.

28:37 The people of Maine voted in favor of ranked choice voting, with a 64% majority, despite opposition from the current governor who vetoed a bill for ranked choice voting.

33:27 Ranked choice voting has been tied to political scandals and unpopular politicians, leading to its abandonment in some places, despite the potential benefits it offers in terms of appealing to a broader range of voters and reducing negative campaigning.

38:02 Ranked choice voting serves the center more clearly than the fringes, reduces polarization, and may prevent candidates like Ted Cruz from becoming president.

42:43 Ranked choice voting can lead to ballot exhaustion if voters are limited to ranking only their top three candidates, but this can be avoided by ranking every single person on the ballot.