One of the most common anti #RankedChoiceVoting arguments I've come across is that exhausted ballots represent people's votes being "thrown out," which some argue is a form of disenfranchisement. This makes no sense and has, in turn, made *me* exhausted. So, a thread:

An "exhausted ballot" is one where the voter chose not to rank all of the candidates, and the candidates they *did* rank end up getting eliminated. So, by the final round(s) of vote tallying, that person's vote doesn't count towards any of the remaining candidates.

(At this point, if you're confused about how RCV works, go watch this video and then come back to this thread: )

Say there are four candidates: R, D, L, and G. I only vote for G and don't rank any of the others. The results come in, and G got the fewest first-place votes, so G is eliminated. I didn't rank anyone else, so my ballot won't count in future rounds. My ballot is now exhausted.

The anti-RCV argument goes: "Those votes have been thrown out! Those people have been disenfranchised!" This argument is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how both RCV and our current plurality voting system work.

For this to make sense, you'd have to believe that our current system "throws out" your vote if you vote for a losing candidate—which, of course, no one does. People say, "You're throwing away your vote if you vote third party," but not, "Our voting system threw your vote away."

The fact is that it's no different under RCV. If you voted for a candidate who doesn't have enough votes to win, your vote was counted and your voice was heard, but your choice just didn't have enough support. That happens in plurality voting, and it happens in RCV, too.

But the big difference is that with RCV you have the option to rank multiple candidates if you want. If the idea of your ballot being exhausted bothers you, all you need to do is rank every candidate. Then, it's impossible for your ballot to be exhausted. Problem solved!

That's not a power you have with plurality voting. If I vote for a third party candidate and they come in last place, my ballot has in effect been exhausted. Ballot exhaustion is the default state in plurality voting because you can only voice support for one candidate.

So, if you fear ballot exhaustion, plurality voting is your enemy and RCV is your friend. In conclusion, vote @yeson2rcv in Massachusetts.