A Western Illinois University student is a recipient of the 2025 Paul Simon Democracy Prize.
Winter Hurst-Leadicker, a senior majoring in political science and history, is one of four Illinois college and university students awarded a $5,000 prize.
Submissions were made in the form of short videos.
The prizes from Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute recognize students “for designing and implementing projects aimed at revitalizing democracy in their communities.”
Hurst-Leadicker’s project proposes placing a referendum on the ballot that asks voters in Macomb to approve a ranked-choice voting system for the city’s municipal elections.
“I believe that if you, as a citizen of the city of Macomb, truly want to be able to elect your local leaders that are able to have a sizeable mandate from the voters in a way that maximizes democracy, you should vote ‘yes’ on implementing a democratic, ranked-choice voting system for the city of Macomb municipal elections,” Hurst-Leadicker said.
Voters rank candidates by preference under a ranked-choice system, and there are multiple forms of ranked-choice voting.
“I believe that this type of voting would create a much more egalitarian and democratic system,” Hurst-Leadicker said, adding it might also increase voter turnout and encourage more people to run for office.
The number of candidates and voters has been low in recent Macomb municipal elections. In April this year, three city council seats and the position of city treasurer were up for election. Just one of the positions – for an at-large city council seat – was contested.
The citywide voter turnout was 14%.
Hurst-Leadicker is not sure when the referendum might go before voters. They plan to meet with city leaders this fall to discuss the idea and learn about the requirements to place an initiative on the ballot.
Hurst-Leadicker first became interested in politics as a teenager during the 2016 election cycle, and the Democratic primary in 2020 further piqued their interest because of the number of candidates and their different proposals for addressing issues.
Hurst-Leadicker became interested in ranked-choice voting more recently.
“My really deep interest in ranked-choice voting emerged in the primary elections in both political parties leading up to the 2024 presidential election,” Hurst-Leadicker said.
They’re also interested in the role ranked-choice voting played in the outcome of the recent Democratic primary for mayor of New York City.
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