Today is Nov. 30, 2023.

• We’re back! Today we’re going to have a high of 49 and some sun before it starts turning went and rainy through the weekend and into Tuesday. It won’t be cold enough to turn into snow, with highs around 50. But by Monday it’ll drop to around 40 and we could see some snow later next week.
  

• We hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday! It was a much-needed week off for us here at The Spotlight, and now we’re back to our usual weekly Thursday publishing schedule — until late December when the holidays reach their crescendo. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on upcoming schedule changes as we close out 2023.
  

• If you just subscribed or missed something in an earlier newsletter, don’t fret: Subscribers have access to every edition of The Spotlight at www.stowmunroefalls.com. Check out back issues to catch up on everything that’s going on in our communities — you never know what you might have missed!
  

• Several stories in this issue are only available to premium subscribers: Events with Santa, threats to SMF students, “Hands of Education” demo, when to see “A Christmas Carol” and much more. Full access is $2.99/month.

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Elections

What is Ranked Choice Voting? Newly elected Council Member Herman explains

You may have heard Stow City Council Member-elect Kyle Herman talking about his day job with Rank the Vote Ohio during his campaign. The Spotlight caught up with Herman after the election to ask what he actually does.

Here’s what he told us:

• What exactly is Ranked Choice Voting? “Ranked Choice Voting is easier to show than tell (view examples here). Basically, RCV is how they vote in Maine and Alaska and dozens of cities across the country, where instead of just picking one candidate, you can rank your choices 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on,” Herman said. “That way, more parties and candidates can run, and you have more confidence that your vote will actually matter.”
  

• But how are the votes counted? “A major problem with Ohio’s current elections is that they don’t require a majority to win, so if more than two candidates run, one can win with something like 30% to 40% of the vote. RCV requires a majority to win. If no one gets more than 50% of first choices, then the last-place candidate is eliminated, and instead of your vote being wasted if you voted for them, your vote will simply transfer to your next choice. RCV is also known as ‘Instant Runoff Voting’ because it’s similar to runoffs in states like Georgia, but instead of having a wasteful, low-turnout duplicate election, we already know who your backup choices are.”
  

• Who opposes RCV? “Party bosses on both sides fear RCV because they want to suppress competition in order to protect the two-party system. They don’t like that RCV gives voters more choices and gives third parties and independents a chance to run without being ‘spoilers.’ Right now, there’s a bill in the Ohio Statehouse to ban RCV that’s sponsored by a Republican from a deep red district and a Democrat from a deep blue district. They even acknowledge that in 1923, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that charter cities have a right to use RCV in accordance with the Ohio Constitution’s guarantee of local self-governance and home rule authority – so their bill would financially punish cities that use RCV in order to coerce and deter them because they can’t outright ban it.”
  

• What are the actual chances of RCV happening in Ohio? “RCV is spreading quickly across the country, with several more states set to vote on it in 2024. The faster we can raise public awareness that there’s a better way to vote, the sooner we can get RCV on the ballot here. Voters can sign Rank the Vote Ohio’s online petition, volunteer, donate, or learn more at RankTheVoteOhio.org.”

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