I am writing to encourage Colorado voters to vote yes on Initiative 310, open primaries/ranked choice voting. I live in Alaska, where this system was approved by voters in 2020 and first implemented in the 2022 election cycle.
A main argument against the system is that it can be confusing, but in practice, it is not. The open primary encourages more candidates to join the political process, allows for more voices to be heard and gives voters more choice. Voters select their preferred candidate, regardless of party affiliation. The top four vote-getters advance to the general election, where voters get to vote for all of them, if they want, ranked by order of preference. After round 1, the fourth-place finisher is eliminated but the voters who supported them still have a voice, as the candidate they ranked second will get their vote. The process continues until one candidate exceeds 50% of the vote. It favors candidates who appeal to a broader cross-section of the electorate than the extremes.
Here in Alaska, in the 2022 Senate race I voted for a Democrat who was eliminated in round 2, but my second ranked vote then went to Republican Lisa Murkowski, who won with 53.7% of the vote against a polarizing Republican Party-endorsed candidate. And Sen. Murkowski is a proven moderate voice in a divided Senate, able to work across the aisle in the best interest of all Alaskans.
Vote “yes” on Initiative 310.
Wayne Howell
Gustavus, Alaska
