My introduction to in-person voting in Lewiston came when I piled my kids into our hatchback to slip-slide our way over to Longley school during a snowstorm.

Perhaps others remember the day? It was the mayoral run-off election in December 2017, and only 27% of registered voters participated, down from 38% in that November’s election.

So perhaps others don’t remember voting that day. Maybe they didn’t have snow-worthy transportation, or their childcare challenges were harder to overcome, or they had to work extra hours to cover for someone. Maybe they were driving a snowplow so others could vote.

Or maybe they just didn’t know about the election or forgot. Most of us have a lot to keep track of.

Imagine if our municipal fate was never again sealed by a small handful of doughty December voters. There’s an alternative: ranked-choice voting. RCV ensures that the candidate with the broadest support wins a majority on election day — no need for extra effort on the part of voters or our worthy election officials.

Ranked-choice voting for Lewiston city elections could easily become reality with an amendment to the city charter. I encourage our city councilors to get behind this effort. It’s time.

Carrie Jadud, Lewiston