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Is There A Better Way To Vote In Connecticut's Primary?

George W Bush Presidential Library
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Connecticut will hold primaries on August 14 to determine which candidates get on the ballot in this November's midterm elections. Since Connecticut runs a closed primary system, only voters registered with a party get to vote in that party's primary. Unaffiliated and Independent voters are out of luck.

That's not the case in every state. Colorado for the first time last week allowed unaffiliated voters to choose which primary they'd like to vote in. The hope is that the high number of unaffiliated - and largely uninterested - voters will engage with the process. 

It's not a surprise that people are losing faith in their vote: nasty campaigns, polarizing candidates, and the dearth of strong third-party candidates challenge the most steadfast voters among us. 

It turns out that all the things we dislike about elections may be a symptom of election methods that are mathematically-wieghted to lead to unfair outcomes. A new modelmay bring more choice along with fairer results. We talk about that. 

We also talk to Maine, the first state to use ranked-choice voting in a statewide election. 

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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show

Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows.

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