early actions - MO vote to ban ranked voting state-wide

[in...@betterballotkc.org]

Friends --

Reminder: The Missouri legislature has put on the November 5 ballot a state constitutional amendment to ban ranked choice voting state-wide. Here's the Ballotpedia page, and also a Kansas City Star article about how deceptive it is. 

Cards

We have a yellow card we use with everyone in Kansas City, plus several cards on specific topics for people outside Kansas City or interested in those specific topics. See them at: 

Better Ballot KC - Information Cards 

Any help in spreading the word, even just a few cards to friends and family or social gatherings would help - the personal touch helps, and the fact that it's still early gives it more impact. If you want some, hit reply to let me know and I can mail them to you. 

We don't yet have a card designed specifically to encourage a no vote on a state-wide ban, but we anticipate that's coming soon. It will at first have to refer to the ballot measure in general terms, because a specific title for it won't be assigned to it until late August. 

Leafleting Voters Leaving the Polls on August 6

We anticipate more volunteers, because we now have an actual ballot measure to vote on. Unfortunately, instead of the yes vote we were trying to build for Kansas City, we have to build a no vote on a state-wide ban. Anyone who can help for a few minutes or a few hours, please mark your calendars now. 

Letters to the Editor

These will be needed constantly from now until November, and are especially likely to be published whenever you see it's in the news: 

How to contribute letters and essays to The Kansas City Star | Kansas City Star

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Among the points to make: 

* Ranking is used in over 50 U.S. cities now. It's been voted in by the last 27 cities in a row (that is, a winning streak of 27). 

* Exit polls show that voters are very satisfied with it. 

* This is a ban on communities deciding for themselves how they want to vote  

* There's no such thing as a local government that decides to use ranking without consulting the voters. Voters are always asked in an election whether or not they want to use it. Therefore, this isn't "protecting" any voters; it's keeping voters from having those elections. People don't need to decide if they like ranked voting in order to vote against this; they only need to think that communities get to vote on it if they want. 

* Both major parties would benefit from having ranking because they could then get candidates in their primaries that had the support of the majority of people in those parties. Those are going to be better for them in the general election. 

* This measure explicitly says that someone who wins the plurality of votes in a party primary - that is, the most votes even if it's less than a majority - goes on to the general election. This is deliberately saying that someone should win a primary even if the majority is against them. They win because other candidates divide up the majority's vote.  

* Be sure to use the word "ban." People don't like bans. 

Points NOT to make: 

* This is not a partisan issue. Even though it was a partisan split in the Missouri legislature, there are other places in the country where the partisan split is reversed and it's the Democrats that oppose and Republicans that support. It's extremely important that we appeal to everyone. You'll see on the red card at the bottom of our information cards that a strong case can be made to conservatives, as well as to liberals or moderates. Ranking doesn't favor any particular party by itself. It only favors the candidates that actually have the support of the voters. 

* This is not a third-party issue. It's true that third parties benefit by getting more votes as people rank them instead of merely voting for the "lesser evil" more likely to win. Accordingly, third parties are among our major supporters. Nevertheless, both major parties also benefit as the "spoiler" scenario will no longer mess them up and make them lose elections. And, as said above, party primaries will have higher-quality winners. 

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If anybody would like to run their letter by us for constructive feedback, feel free to send back by email or to call to discuss it. 

-- Rachel MacNair

for Better Ballot KC

Voice and text: 816-753-2057