To: Our Utah State Legislators for our Area
Senators: David P. Hinkins, Michael K. McKell
Representatives: Stephen Whtye, Norman K. Thurston
From: Mrs. Smith’s 8th Grade US History class at Springville Junior High School (at least one student is in your district)
Our class is doing a project called “Make a Difference.” We want our community to be a safe place where no one is arguing, and we can see everyone's point of view without putting one side down. To make this happen, we have researched many topics including the political divide/polarization, why/how it is hurting us, and what might help We are contacting you to see if you can strongly consider our proposal and to make decisions as a legislature that will create a better community where there is no fighting and where we can come together as one.
America has a problem. People in the political parties refuse to listen to each other's perspectives, and if this keeps happening, then we will get nowhere. According to the article, Political Polarization in the American Republic, “Today, 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican.” This shows that the different political parties have opposite views, and from their point of view, their party has to be right. Out of party hate is more common than in party love which is a serious problem (NYU).
“In each party, the share with a highly negative view of the opposing party has more than doubled since 1994.”(Pew Research Center). and many believe the other party’s policies are so wrong that they will hurt America (facinghistory) . Different sides make it so people can not work together and complete tasks. The more we separate, the harder it is to have a strong country and state.
Democratic and Republican parties have always had their differences, but today they have more hate for each other than ever. Facing History & Ourselves explains that when politicians and the media “demonize” the opposing political party, they increase affective polarization and contribute to the impression that the other group is a “threat.” (FacingHistory) All of this makes it harder for people to get along and for the government to work together.
We as a people are frustrated by how our rights to have a voice in government are denied through political polarization. We are stuck voting for one candidate or the other, the Democrats or the Republicans. How as a people are we supposed to make the best country possible when we only get two choices? The worst of this comes through stereotyping. Just because someone is a Democrat doesn’t mean they’re a young social activist, and just because someone’s a Republican doesn’t mean that they’re a 40-year-old white male! (Kleinfeld) People feel pressured when they belong to a party to vote for certain policies, just because they belong to that party (De-Wit And Others). If you feel pressured to vote a certain way because you belong to a certain party, that is not good! We as people are not okay with there being only two sides. Everyone needs to learn about the other side at the very least, to learn about their perspectives. As we learn about the other sides, the people can have a new candidate who can use both of the perspectives, and they can agree on one person in the end.
We learned that elected government officials represent the people. Even though we have a two party system, a legislator's loyalty is to be to the people in their district, not the party they belong to. Because of this, we think Utah State should use ranked-choice voting for state and national elections.
With Ranked Choice Voting, voters can spread their vote over multiple candidates. Ranked-choice voting allows the will of the majority to emerge, and it allows voters' voices to be heard.(FairVote). When RCV is used, it helps voters spread their votes out more. “With RCV, voters can sincerely rank candidates in order of preference. Voters know that if their first choice doesn’t win, their vote automatically counts for their next choice instead. (Fairvote).
Another reason RCV is a good idea is that it allows the will of the majority to emerge. Understanding Ranked Choice Voting says, “Once there are more than two candidates in a typical 'most votes wins' election, it's entirely possible that the winning candidate only commands 38% of the vote when a majority of the electorate would have preferred someone else”. A third reason for doing RCV is that voters' voices will be heard. (CampaignLegal).
This is why RCV is a better voting system than the traditional system.
In our world today, we need to find a way to reduce political polarization. We believe Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is the solution that would be most effective, and would like RCV to be adopted by Utah because it would have more opportunities for the future. In the article, “Ranked Choice Voting”, FairVote states, “Winners of RCV elections are the candidates who can build both deep and broad support,” which means that people will be happier with who is in charge, and it will decrease tension between Republicans and Democrats. And, according to “Ranked-Choice Voting,” by Politico, “Switching to ranked-choice voting would enable general election voters to give their first-place votes to independents and moderates who promise to defy this polarizing logic.” This will make political polarization decrease because people will be able to stop it. If we want our nation to be successful, we need to stop polarization, and we can start right here in our state.
“RCV works in all types of elections and supports more representative outcomes.” (FairVote) Ranked choice voting permits people to have more of a say in the outcome of voting.
The answer has always been right in our faces. Come together. If we unite, work out our differences, and find a solution, America will be at its best. Everyone is human, of course, we will want to be right, but we also have to think of others. How would others feel? Is this fair? We youth believe that this is our time to make a difference. Our time to step up. Our time to be great. America will be our future, where we will be in charge. Starting now will help build the future. So we send this message to have this chance—this opportunity. Please pass a law that requires Ranked Choice Voting in Utah State Offices and for Utah’s participation in National Elections too.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Smith’s 4th period US History Class at Springville Junior High
Gabriel w
Laicy. A\
Kate R.
Abby R
Molly B
Charly C.
Scarlett C
Hoyt. B
Calvin
Van.S
Chelsea M
Brielle A
Alejandra. R
Adam F
Victoria. P
Sydney S
Camila B.
Isaac G
Audrey M
Kira L
Brooklyn W
Knox o
Dently R
Matthew C
Kyle N
Works Cited:
De-Wit, Lee, Van Der Linden, Sander, Brick, Cameron. “What Are the Solutions to Political Polarization?” Berkeley Center for Greater Good, Berkeley Center for Greater Good, 02 July 2019, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_are_the_solutions_to_political_polarization
Diamond, Larry. “Ranked-Choice Voting.” Politico
FairVote. “Ranked Choice Voting, https://fairvote.org/our-reforms/ranked-choice-voting/
Geiger, Abigail. “Political polarization in the American Republic.” Pew Research Center, June 12, 2014. (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/)
Kleinfeld, Rachel. “Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 05 September 2023, https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2023/09/polarization-democracy-and-political-violence-in-the-united-states-what-the-research-says?lang=en
Pew Research Center, “Political Polarization in the American Public.” June 12, 2014, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/
“Political polarization in the United States.” Facing History & Ourselves, August 26, 2024.
(https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/political-polarization-united-states)
Ranked Vote. “Applying Ranked Choice Voting” RankedVote, LLC, 2025 (Ranked Vote)