--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ranked choice voting restores power where…" description: "\"Ranked choice voting restores power where it belongs, with the people themselves.\" — Ritchie Torres" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg" --- # Ranked choice voting restores power where it belongs, with… ![“Ranked choice voting restores power where it belongs, with the people themselves.” quote by Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg) > “Ranked choice voting restores power where it belongs, with the people themselves.” [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates that ranked‑choice voting returns decision‑making to citizens rather than elites. **In simple terms:** Voting should empower people. Key Takeaway Support voting reforms. Themes democracy participation electoral reform Mood hopeful determined Type political inspirational When to use this quote - elections - civic engagement - policy advocacy Key Concepts ranked choice voting political empowerment Questions to Reflect On - How would ranked choice change your community? - What obstacles exist for adoption? A Different Perspective Implementation can be complex and requires voter education. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Choice Voting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice-voting-373362/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Power Belongs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-belongs-277885/) [Restores Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restores-power-5214172/) [Voting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voting/) [Voting Restores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voting-restores-5214171/) [Where](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/where/) ## Related quotes > [With ranked choice voting, every vote matters more than ever before, and it matters to every single candidate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/with-ranked-choice-voting-every-vote-matters-more-than-ever-before/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [Instead of dividing community support, ranked choice voting gives every candidate, no matter who they are, the chance to be a real contender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/instead-of-dividing-community-support-ranked-choice-voting-gives/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [Ranked Choice Voting is simple, empowers voters, and rewards candidates who broaden support beyond their base.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-phillips/ranked-choice-voting-is-simple-empowers-voters-and-rewards-candidates/) [Dean Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-phillips/) > [Ranked choice voting isn't a silver bullet that will turn our politics into some Platonic ideal. We still might not love the candidates we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/ranked-choice-voting-isn-t-a-silver-bullet-that-will-turn-our/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [Power belongs to the intelligence of evil. It's totally unreflective, like Donald Trump. It belongs there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-wilson/power-belongs-to-the-intelligence-of-evil-it-s-totally-unreflective/) [Cody Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-wilson/) > [“Power belongs to the smallest and to the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-ne-cixous/power-belongs-to-the-smallest-and-to-the-dead/) [Hélène Cixous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-ne-cixous/) > [In the assumption that power belongs as a matter of course to capital, all economists are Marxians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/in-the-assumption-that-power-belongs-as-a-matter-of-course-to-capital/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The people have to have the power: it belongs to the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hampton/the-people-have-to-have-the-power-it-belongs-to-the-people/) [Fred Hampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hampton/) > [In our New York, the power belongs to the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zohran-mamdani/in-our-new-york-the-power-belongs-to-the-people/) [Zohran Mamdani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zohran-mamdani/) > [Were it part of our everyday education and comment that the corporation is an instrument for the exercise of power, that it belongs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/were-it-part-of-our-everyday-education-and-comment-that-the/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“Let no one ever intimidate you, you are standing on no one's ground. But again, some have claimed the earth as their own and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/let-no-one-ever-intimidate-you-you-are-standing-on-no-one-s-ground/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [I think that ranked-choice voting makes a lot of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-malveaux/i-think-that-ranked-choice-voting-makes-a-lot-of-sense/) [Julianne Malveaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-malveaux/) > [Remember, we could solve this in a heartbeat with ranked-choice voting. The Democrats won't pass it. This allows you to rank your choices and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/remember-we-could-solve-this-in-a-heartbeat-with-ranked-choice-voting/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [I have a lifetime 100% pro-choice voting record. I understand that people disagree on this issue, but I believe that it is a woman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-have-a-lifetime-100-pro-choice-voting-record-i-understand-that/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [As a personal matter, I stopped voting more than a decade ago, on the grounds that it helped me as an analyst not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-greenfield/as-a-personal-matter-i-stopped-voting-more-than-a-decade-ago-on-the/) [Jeff Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-greenfield/) ## More by Ritchie Torres > [My younger self could not imagine standing on the floor of Congress as a member of Congress voting on legislation that, if enacted, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/my-younger-self-could-not-imagine-standing-on-the-floor-of-congress/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I am both black and Latino - there's no need to artificially barricade one from the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-am-both-black-and-latino-there-s-no-need-to-artificially-barricade/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I've had to face housing insecurity and food insecurity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-ve-had-to-face-housing-insecurity-and-food-insecurity/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [Exercising dominion over Puerto Rico, as the U.S. has done for more than a century - without granting Puerto Ricans the full franchise in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/exercising-dominion-over-puerto-rico-as-the-u-s-has-done-for-more/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I don't hire ideologues or zealots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-don-t-hire-ideologues-or-zealots/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [Racial identity is chosen and given. It is as much a product of the world's perception of you as it is of your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/racial-identity-is-chosen-and-given-it-is-as-much-a-product-of-the/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I lived in public housing and had to struggle with depression and substance abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-lived-in-public-housing-and-had-to-struggle-with-depression-and/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [With a multi-billion dollar market capitalization, crypto is here to stay. It's not going anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/with-a-multi-billion-dollar-market-capitalization-crypto-is-here-to/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I spent almost all my life in poverty, raised by a single mother who had to raise three children on minimum wage, which in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-spent-almost-all-my-life-in-poverty-raised-by-a-single-mother-who/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I'm grateful for the blessing and burden of public service; I promised my constituents that I would work my heart out for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-m-grateful-for-the-blessing-and-burden-of-public-service-i-promised/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I take an expansive view of infrastructure. For me, infrastructure is more than roads and bridges. It's about the quality of the water we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-take-an-expansive-view-of-infrastructure-for-me-infrastructure-is/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [New York City should and must embrace crypto if it is to remain the financial capital of the world. We no longer live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/new-york-city-should-and-must-embrace-crypto-if-it-is-to-remain-the/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [I feel no shame in admitting that I take an antidepressant every day. That enables me to be a productive public servant who's risen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/i-feel-no-shame-in-admitting-that-i-take-an-antidepressant-every-day/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [There's a sense in which the media narrative diminishes me. I resist the temptation to fit into a preconceived narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/there-s-a-sense-in-which-the-media-narrative-diminishes-me-i-resist/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [My openness about depression is rooted in my lived experience as an LGBTQ person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/my-openness-about-depression-is-rooted-in-my-lived-experience-as-an/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) [Explore all 99 Ritchie Torres quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) ## More Choice quotes > [Making the right decision is hard,telling someone your decision is even harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/making-the-right-decision-is-hard-telling-someone-your-decision-is/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [“That’s all! Now either leave us alone or join us as a father rather than a receiver of sacrifices. You have the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/that-s-all-now-either-leave-us-alone-or-join-us-as-a-father-rather/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [There has always been a feeling with people that they love my singing but not always the choice of material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/there-has-always-been-a-feeling-with-people-that-they-love-my-singing/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [I have too many options when it comes to guitars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-have-too-many-options-when-it-comes-to-guitars/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [“Amazing how a small choice can change your life forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-c-dockens/amazing-how-a-small-choice-can-change-your-life-forever/) [Randy C. Dockens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-c-dockens/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Since I don't outline my books very much, I feel like sometimes I don't have a choice in what the characters do; they just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-todd/since-i-don-t-outline-my-books-very-much-i-feel-like-sometimes-i-don/) [Anna Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-todd/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Words can only have an effect on you if you choose to listen to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/words-can-only-have-an-effect-on-you-if-you-choose-to-listen-to-them/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) [Browse all 8,092 Choice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ranked choice voting restores power where it belongs, with the people themselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ritchie Torres" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-where-it-belongs-with-the-people/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Choice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-where-it-belongs-with-the-people/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/ritchie-torres-6334_choice_ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-wher_1450393.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ranked choice voting restores power where it belongs, with the people themselves.” — Ritchie Torres", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ritchie Torres", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ranked choice voting restores power where...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-where-it-belongs-with-the-people/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/ranked-choice-voting-restores-power-where-it-belongs-with-the-people/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```