Fargo's Election & Governance Task Force will present its recommendation of changing Fargo's method of voting to "approval voting" to the City Commission and the public at City Hall on Feb. 14 at noon in the City Commission Room.

Approval voting is simple and it will be familiar to Fargo voters. We'll still fill in ovals on our ballots; the only change is how many ovals we're allowed to fill. Instead of voting for one candidate per seat we choose to approve of as many candidates as we wish for each. Think of it like voting "yes" or "no" for each candidate. The candidates with the most "yes" votes will win the open seats.

Approval voting is more expressive than our current system. If you like one candidate, you can choose just that one candidate. If you like several candidates, you can approve of all of them. If you worry your favorite candidate won't win, you needn't waste your vote to show that candidate support: you can choose other candidates that are also aligned with your beliefs. If you dislike a particular candidate, but are otherwise indifferent, you can vote for all of the others. These are all completely valid and expressive ways to vote under approval voting.

Approval voting allows us to express how we feel about each candidate's merits. If you sincerely support a candidate, you can do so without worrying about spoiling the race for others you also like. The expressiveness of approval voting is in line with the principle of "one person, one vote." It does not force us to only choose the lesser of two evils or to otherwise fracture our decisions.

Approval voting ends with fair election results. Fringe candidates can't squeeze out mainstream candidates while mainstream candidates can no longer dominate the conversation. Candidates anywhere on the ideological spectrum can win with broad enough support. At the same time, voters need not only support likely winners. Importantly, we can vote our consciences without fear.

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Approval voting does not add unreasonable costs to city elections. There's little need to hold expensive run-offs or to create complicated ballots. It's just a change of text to existing ballots. The government doesn't need new machines or big changes on their end. The cost to use this new system with current equipment is almost zero.

Approval voting is a simple, elegant solution to many election issues.

I encourage you to attend the knowledge transfer and learn more about the work our task force did by joining us at City Hall on the fourteenth at noon.

Limke, Fargo, is a member of the Election & Governance Task Force.