Scott Burger, longtime Richmond community advocate and publisher of OregonHill.net, has raised the stakes for local students interested in experimenting with ranked choice voting (RCV).
This week, Burger announced his award for any Richmond-area student government association. The prize, which began at $1,000, is meant to encourage students to explore the mechanics of a voting system that’s gaining attention across the country.
What Is Ranked Choice Voting?
Rank Choice Voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than picking just one. If no candidate wins a majority outright, the last-place finisher is eliminated and those votes are redistributed according to second-choice rankings. The process repeats until a candidate clears 50 percent.
Supporters say the system produces winners with broader support, discourages negative campaigning, and prevents “spoiler” candidates from skewing outcomes. In recent years, cities like New York and San Francisco, along with states such as Maine and Alaska, have adopted versions of ranked choice voting in local and statewide elections.
Why Offer It to Students?
Burger’s decision to tie his prize to college campuses is both practical and symbolic. Student governments often mirror the challenges of larger political systems: low turnout, contested leadership roles, and a struggle to represent diverse constituencies. By putting RCV into practice at this level, students can experiment with alternative forms of democracy in a relatively low-risk setting.
It also reflects Burger’s long-running civic activism in Richmond, where he’s known for championing grassroots experiments in community engagement. Offering money for student governments to try ranked choice voting fits with his broader mission: pushing Richmonders—especially the next generation—to think critically about how decisions are made and who gets represented.
What’s Next?
The question now is whether local campuses like VCU, University of Richmond, or Virginia Union will take him up on it. The prize money is not just for bragging rights but could help pay for the costs of amending constitutions, educating students on how RCV works, and running the first elections under the system.
It’s a small incentive with a larger purpose: testing whether Richmond students can model a different way of doing democracy, one that might someday ripple outward into the city and beyond.
Photo by Manny Becerra
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