May 19 Matters

Our work at Better Ballot Georgia has always been about empowering the people. That includes making sure our community has access to clear, accurate information about how to participate in elections.

I'm excited to share that we’ve joined May Matters, a nonpartisan effort to help Georgians understand and prepare for the May 19 primary elections. We’re joining this campaign because the voters deserve to have their voices heard.

Learn more: www.gamatters.us

Why this matters for our mission

At Better Ballot Georgia we believe so deeply in the power of ranked choice voting to transform our elections and empower the people's voice. Getting to a world where we use ranked choice voting is not happening tomorrow or this month. But what is happening this month is the Georgia primary election. By taking this step now to show up for the primaries, we can also take a step towards achieving ranked choice voting (RCV).

So many problems stem from the primary elections and they are problems that RCV could solve. But voters aren't aware because few even participate in the primary election. 

Primary elections have low voter participation and, from that, unrepresentative outcomes. Races are crowded and confusing. Crowded races always lead to expensive runoff elections. 

Ranked choice voting solves the real problems facing voters. Ranked choice voting means no more runoffs. No more runoffs means

• no more voter dropoff
• no more expensive runoff elections
• no more restriction on choices

Ranked choice voting simplifies the primaries giving voters more voice and more choice. But to get there, we need to get voters to recognize the problems with primaries. That recognition starts with participation.

Anyone can use the May Matters toolkit to promote the May 19 primary: www.gamatters.us