Electoral Reform
As the Center for Public Justice Guideline on Citizenship states, “Electoral reform needs to go deeper than campaign finance reform or making it easier for citizens to register and vote, important as these are. Reform must get to the root of the sense of powerlessness or meaninglessness that many citizens feel about elections and politics in general… Citizens should not mistake the right to express political opinions through interest groups and the media for the right to exercise influence in and through elected representatives. Real political influence requires a voice in government through those whom voters truly want as their representatives. Only an electoral system that allows for adequate representation of all organized voices can do justice to citizens in a democracy.”
APJ advocates for electoral reform that includes ranked choice voting, also called instant runoff voting, a process that allows broad participation from a wide range of voices, allowing third-party and independent candidates to have a genuine voice in the political process (rather than playing the role of “spoiler”). You can read more about the advantages of Ranked Choice Voting here.