Two months ago, a campaign to enact ranked choice voting in Michigan got off the ground. 

Ranked choice voting lets you rank candidates in order of preference. If no one gets more than 50 percent at first, the last-place candidate is dropped and those votes go to your next choice. 

Supporters say that the process, if approved, will strengthen our democracy.

But it didn’t take long before Republicans in Lansing and political advocates began attacking the electoral process. 

Last month, state lawmakers passed a bill in the House along party lines to ban ranked choice voting. But even its Republican sponsor admitted that if voters approve it on the ballot, that would override the ban.

Nonetheless, state House Representative Rachelle Smit, who sponsored the legislation, says that ranked choice voting is confusing, and “only breeds skepticism, especially when every close contest invites lawsuits and recount battles.” 

How are the leaders behind ranked choice voting responding to this political fight — and what’s their plan to get it on the 2026 ballot?

Joe Spaulding, campaign director for Rank MI Vote, spoke with Robyn Vincent about why he believes ranked choice voting will make our system more, not less, democratic.

The Metro reached out to the group, Stop RCV and state House Rep. Rachelle Smit about why they’re against ranked choice voting. Rep. Smit directed us to her Detroit News column, which says ranked choice voting threatens election integrity. Stop RCV sent us a statement that “ranked-choice voting makes every part of the election process more difficult,” for both voters and election administrators. 

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Michigan-based nonprofit Rank MI Vote is campaigning for signatures to get ranked choice voting on the November 2026 ballot.

This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben talk with Rank MI Vote Executive Director Pat Zabawa to learn more about this new voting style and why he says it would be better for Michigan.

In this episode:

• What is ranked choice voting?
• Is ranked choice voting a better system?
• What other ballot proposals are groups trying to get on the 2026 ballot?

Ranked choice voting has steadily increased in popularity across the country for the past decade — most notably in the Democratic mayoral primary race in New York City.

This alternative voting method allows voters to rank their choice of candidates on the ballot in order of preference.

Rank MI Vote’s effort to get ranked choice voting on the ballot recently passed the state board of canvassers. Pat Zabawa, the organization’s executive director, says this method would be helpful in making our voting system more efficient. 

“Michigan increasingly is being represented by candidates who haven’t won more than 50% of voters’ support,” Zabawa said. “That’s true in general elections, and that’s true in primaries. We see that the 2016 U.S. presidential race and Michigan 2024 U.S. presidential race, ranked choice voting addresses the issue that voters see and make sure that voters are represented.”  

Still, Kasben says opponents will likely call the proposal confusing, and “fight back against the idea that it wouldn’t cause a delay in getting results,” she said. “Some also say it goes against the ‘one person one vote’ rule.” 

Supporters of the Rank MI Vote initiative will need to collect more than 440,000 signatures that are needed to get the initiative on the ballot in 2026. 

More from WDET:

• The Metro: The case for ranked choice voting in Michigan
• Detroit Evening Report: Trump order aims to dismantle US Department of Education; March Madness + more
• The promises and drawbacks of ranked choice voting 

Volunteers with the Michigan-based nonprofit Rank MI Vote have been working hard to get ranked choice voting on the general election ballot in November 2026.

Their effort just passed the state board of canvassers on Friday. Now they need to get hundreds of thousands of signatures over the next 180 days to get the initiative on the ballot. If passed, voters would be able to rank political candidates by their preference.

Pat Zabawa, executive director of Rank MI Vote, joined The Metro on Wednesday to make the case for ranked choice voting and why he says it would more accurately reflect the will of Michigan voters.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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