Sen. Hwang Adjourns Governor’s Rank Choice Voting Working Group, and Recommends Solutions

HARTFORD, CT – This morning, Senator Tony Hwang and Senator Cathy Osten adjourned Governor Lamont’s Working Group on Rank Choice Voting (RCV) following months of weekly meetings. Due to increased public interest and electoral reform advocacy, Gov. Lamont initially formed the RCV Working Group to consider the potential implementation of the voting method.

Over the past months, the working group, co-chaired by Hwang and Osten, has assessed the benefits and challenges that RCV would pose to Connecticut’s electoral process, and was tasked to offer evaluation, education, and implementation framework to the Governor.

“I am excited for this opportunity to introduce Ranked Choice Voting, which will increase public participation in our elections. RCV will expand minority representation in Connecticut, allowing more voices to be heard and strongly benefitting our democracy,” Hwang stated.

In addition to researching and providing an implementation framework, the working group also proposed legislative recommendations that the Connecticut General Assembly may consider in this upcoming 2025 Legislative Session. These recommendations include giving municipalities and political parties the option to use RCV in municipal elections and party conventions/primaries, respectively. The group also suggested that the Connecticut Secretary of State defer implementation of RCV if she determines issues with ballot design or tabulation technology.

“We deemed it vital to recommend an option for municipalities and political parties to explore a rank-choice approach, rather than a mandate. By allowing these little “democracies” to experiment responsibly with the process, we can work out the fine details and make sure this system works as intended,” explained Hwang.

“I am in favor of ranked-choice voting. I like the idea of more voter engagement,” Co-Chair Cathy Osten stated. “It has worked well in Massachusetts and Maine, and there is an opportunity here.”

“Ultimately, this working group was just a stepping stone. This was a great opportunity to learn and brainstorm ideas and use RCV to reduce negativity in our political climate. While considering this, we must continue to equally stress the importance of legislative transparency, respect for our municipal governments, and election integrity and trust.”