Published: 2/13/2019 5:31:07 PM
A proposal to let New Hampshire adopt ranked-choice voting for the next presidential primary has been shelved for the time being.
The Election Law Committee of the state House of Representatives unanimously retained the bill, HB 728, on Wednesday. This means it can be brought up again in 2020, the second year of this legislative session.
Ranked-choice voting allows people to not only choose a single candidate on the ballot for each race, but to rank all the candidates from top to bottom.
Proponents say it lets people better express their preference in a multi-candidate race like the party primary, and reduces extremism among candidates because they have to appeal to a wider range of voters. Opponents say it is confusing and unnecessary.
Last November, Maine became the first state to use ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, in statewide elections.