Unite NY Launches Campaign to Educate Voters on Ranked Choice Voting
The Effort Provides Voters with More Information on the Process that Makes Voting More Inclusive
Albany, NY – Unite NY, the new political home for independent and moderate voters launched last month, today announced it has launched a digital advertising campaign to help provide New York City voters with more information on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Focused on elevating People Over Party and improving our economy, democracy, and our government, Unite NY joins many other organizations in supporting RCV as a vast improvement to our electoral system.
RCV will be used for the first time in New York City in this year’s primary and special elections for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President and City Council. This new approach allows voters to rank candidates in order of their preference, rather than just voting for one candidate. This ranking process allow voters to reward candidates with the best ideas, rather than being forced to choose just one, making our voting system more inclusive and democratic, while also allowing for innovation to introduce greater confidence in voters.
Unite NY Founder Martin Babinec said, “We are sponsoring this educational campaign for one simple reason, Ranked Choice Voting brings democracy back into the voting booth by encouraging candidates to win support from voters rather than attack opponents. When we launched our Unite NY platform, focused on People Over Party, our stated goal was to make New York better and fairer for all, and the first place that starts is at the ballot box. We know that voters are smart, so ensuring this new process works smoothly will rebuild confidence in the system, which we feel is a way to encourage ideas and bring solutions back to our political process.”
This advertising and public information campaign was launched in collaboration with the team at RankTheVoteNYC, Common Cause NY, and the Serve America Movement NY. This assembly of political reformers are linking arms to work at ensuring New Yorkers embrace the value in this new reform and innovation in our election system. In just under two weeks, the advertising campaign has reached more than 650,000 impressions across New York City.
Unite NY State Chair John Bullis said, “Unite NY seeks non-partisan government solutions to today’s most pressing problems and Ranked Choice Voting is one solution that makes sense. It incentivizes candidates to talk to the entire electorate, makes our voting system more democratic, and empowers independent thinking in politics.”
Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY and Board Chair for RankTheVoteNYC said, “In less than one month, New York voters will head to the polls, rank their ballots for the first time and elect candidates with majority support. This is a huge improvement over our old system. Ranked Choice Voting is easy to use too: 95% of Queens and Bronx voters found the RCV ballot simple to understand, and 75% knew about RCV before heading to the polls in the special elections. We will continue our education and outreach efforts, together with our outstanding community partners, to make sure all voters are fully empowered in June.”
SAM-NY Chair Michael Volpe said, “Rank Choice Voting brings additional candidates, and new ideas, into our political discussions in New York State. This is what the SAM Party of NY has been working on since I ran for Lt. Governor in 2018. The SAM Party is proud to join with Unite NY in encouraging New Yorkers to learn more about Rank Choice Voting, and to participate in RCV in the upcoming primary in New York City June 22.”
The digital ad campaign features a series of ads and is running in New York City directing interested voters back to the UniteNY.org site that explains how Ranked Choice Voting works, its benefits, and why it is important.
For more information on the initiative, visit Unite NY’s website dedicated to Ranked Choice Voting here.
About Unite NY
Unite NY is a new political home in New York State for Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals and independents to come together to seek common sense solutions. This new movement offers a home to more than 3.5 million New York voters not currently enrolled in a major party. Focused on a non-partisan approach to fixing real problems in our government, democracy, and economy, Unite NY supports candidates who understand working together is the only way we can succeed. Further, in 2022, Unite NY seeks to establish a ballot line by running a candidate for Governor to help fill the void created by our loss of 5 of the 7 minor parties previously holding statewide ballot access now eliminated from voter choice as the result of 2020 legislation which tripled the qualification hurdles needed to qualify as a minor party.
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