This year alone, lawmakers in more than two dozen states have introduced or passed legislation in favor of ranked choice voting systems, where voters rank candidates in order of preference on their ballot.

Advocates sing the praises of ranked-choice elections, claiming it could be an antidote to the United States’ extreme political polarization. Others say switching to a new voting system would be too complicated for voters.

On the show today, Maresa Strano, deputy director of political reform at New America, unpacks ranked choice voting: what it does well, where it falls short, and what our voting systems have to do with the broader economy.

Then, a new strategy for wiping out medical debt is catching the attention of some local governments. And we’ll get into why mixed signals about the U.S. economy are complicating things for the Biden campaign.

Later, a listener shares how they learned the difficulty of farm work firsthand. Plus, this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart Question comes from sci-fi writer Andy Weir, author of “The Martian.”

Here’s everything we talked about today:








“How Ranked-Choice Voting Works” from The New York Times

“What We Know About Ranked-Choice Voting” from New America

“The Hottest Political Reform of the Moment Gains Ground” from Politico

“RCV is Neither Panacea nor Catastrophe for Minority Representation” from New America

“Oregon becomes the latest state to put ranked choice voting on the ballot” from NBC News

“U.S. Incomes Fall for Third Straight Year” from The Wall Street Journal

“A new way to tackle medical debt gains traction.” from The Washington Post




We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.