There are many issues with our current voting system, and this election cycle proves it more than ever. Negative attack ad, an almost hilarious lack of policy based campaigning, and if you don’t want to vote for Clinton or Trump (the two most unpopular major party candidates in history), you’re a spoiler vote.

Let’s face it: our democracy has lots of issues. But the fact is, the solutions are in our hands.

The nice thing about democracy is that if we (the people) don’t like the way our government is functioning, we can change it. It’s time for us to exercise that right for our voting system.

Ranked Choice Voting (also known as Instant Runoff Voting) is the solution. It eases partisan gridlock. It eliminates the first past the post system, giving voters more options, and allowing viable third-parties. It promotes positive, issue based campaigning (something we are sorely lacking this election cycle). While we’re at it, it saves taxpayer dollars by eliminating the primary cycle, and mitigates the impact of money in politics.

What then, is Ranked Choice Voting? RCV is a system where voters rank their candidates by order of preference. All the votes are tallied, and if no candidate reaches the 50% plus 1 majority required to win, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated from the electoral race. Everyone who placed the eliminated candidate as there 1st preference, has their 2nd preference become their vote. This proceeds until a candidate wins more than half the vote, or only 2 candidates remain, where the candidate with the majority is declared the winner.

RCV isn’t theoretical; cities across America use it for their local elections, Australia as a country uses it, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul use it for city council and mayoral elections. Furthermore, the benefits are proven, not hypothetical; Ranked Choice Voting works.

Whether you are voting or not this November, whether you are a fan of the two major party candidates or not: Ranked Choice Voting does work, and it combats some of the largest internal threats to our democracy. Look around you, and remember that we have the power to choose how our government works. It’s time for us to choose better.