Ranked-Choice in NYC: A Look at the Voter Experience with Professor Lindsey CormackĀ 

RCV in NYC: The Voter Experience

Ranked-choice advocates often cite enhanced voter expression and increased individual choice as their core arguments for reform. But at what cost? The complexity of RCV requires a lengthier and more complicated ballot, amplifying the opportunity for voter error and increasing the incidence of invalidated ballots.

Professor Lindsey Cormackā€™s paper, ā€œMore Choices, More Problems? Ranked Choice Voting Errors in New York City,ā€ offers a detailed assessment of ballot error rates across the city. The paper utilizes ballot data from the 2013 general election and the 2017 and 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primaries to provide a comprehensive accounting of ballot errors across communities and demographic groups. While RCV advocates claim enhanced expression, her research raises questions about the equitable nature of RCVā€™s impact. Does the complexity marginalize certain communities?

Join us on May 16th as Professor Cormack presents her insights and delves into the voter experience in New York City following the adoption of ranked-choice.

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About Professor Cormack

Lindsey Cormack is an associate professor of Political Science and Director of theĀ Diplomacy LabĀ atĀ Stevens Institute of TechnologyĀ in Hoboken, New Jersey.Ā  She created and maintains the digital database of all official Congress-to-constituent e-newsletters atĀ www.dcinbox.com.Ā Her first book,Ā Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA CrisisĀ investigates the differences between legislative efforts and lip service paid to veterans by members of the US Congress. Her second book,Ā How to Raise a Citizen & Why itā€™s Up to You to Do It, is an effort to reinvigorate multigenerational political discussion and governmental know-how.

She earned her PhD in Government from New York University and is raising a daughter on the Upper East Side.Ā She currently serves as the Secretary for Community Board 8.

Her research has been published inĀ Political Behavior, Congress & the Presidency, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Science Research and Methods, American Politics Research, Politics & Policy, Politics Groups & Identities, Ā Politics & Gender, The Journal of Gender Studies, Energy Economics, The Legislative ScholarĀ as well as in popular outlets including the New York Times, The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, ProPublica, Roll Call, The New York Post, NBC News, the LSE USCentre, and The Hill, The Conversation, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more.