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Boston Celtics assistant general manager and team general counsel Mike Zarren has come out as a supporter of ranked choice voting on Twitter Saturday evening.
Zarren retweeted former U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s support of ranked choice voting or RCV, a concept that allows votes to rank candidates in order of preference rather than simply having one option vs. another as it is usually organized in most U.S. elections.
The concept, growing in popularity in recent years, has been put into practice in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Estonia, Fiji, Malta, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Nauru, Hong Kong, New Zealand and several other countries.
Even if you like 2 parties, elections are still WAY more democratic with RCV. If you're in Mass., we just finished the biggest signature campaign in state history and will have RCV on the ballot in Nov. Donate or get involved & help us improve democracy! https://t.co/2JJFjKAGHV https://t.co/6nGnIrU6Mv
— Mike Zarren (@mikezarren) June 28, 2020
It was most recently was implemented in the United States in the Democratic primary elections of Iowa and Nevada for mail-in ballots only.
“For those frustrated with the two-party duopoly let’s fight to make Ranked Choice Voting a reality,” tweeted the former presidential candidate. “The fact is that self-identified independents now outnumber Dems or Republicans. Ranked Choice Voting would make our politics much more dynamic and responsive.”
Zarren quote-tweeted a reply with a call to action on ranked choice voting of his own, saying:
“Even if you like 2 parties, elections are still WAY more democratic with RCV. If you’re in Mass., we just finished the biggest signature campaign in state history and will have RCV on the ballot in Nov. Donate or get involved & help us improve democracy!”
The Celtics’ assistant GM included a link to Voter Choice for Massachusetts, presumably the organization he has been working with to push the concept in Boston’s home state.
Zarren joins many other players, staff and ownership in becoming vocally political in a sport — while more disposed towards politics than most — that was until recently relatively closed to open discussion of political issues.
The killing of George Floyd and ongoing debacle of pandemic responses at several levels of governance across the U.S. has seemingly altered that dynamic, perhaps irrevocably.
NBA, NBPA agree to use 'bubble' restart to promote racial justice https://t.co/2BbkRa7D9v via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) June 26, 2020
No longer content to “shut up and dribble“, players like LeBron James and Boston’s Jaylen Brown are banding together their vast personal resources and platforms to promote racial justice and James in particular voting rights initiatives.
It will be interesting to see whether a broader push to extend vote-by-mail initiatives organized as a response to voting in the midst of a pandemic become taken up by such NBA personalities given their proven success in increasing voter participation and access.
That even assistant general managers like Zarren are getting involved suggests this is a trend that is not going anywhere in a hurry.
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