The Case for Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a small change to the way we vote that produces big improvements to the election process.

On the ballot you rank candidates in the order you prefer (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). If your first-choice candidate does not receive enough votes, your vote counts towards your second choice and so on, until a candidate has a majority. Because of this, RCV ensures that your vote counts every time.  

Benefits: 

  • Guarantees the winner has majority support 
  • Increases competition and empowers voters with more choices 
  • Reduces negative campaigning 
  • Avoids the "lesser of two evils" dilemma and "spoiler” candidates 
  • Eliminates Run-Off elections, saving taxpayer money  

 

How Does Ranked Choice Voting Work?

Here's a sample ballot. This can be expanded to any number of candidates, and also enables write-ins. 

 

If a candidate obtains a majority (more than 50%) of first-choice votes, they win outright. If no candidate gets a majority, the one who got the fewest votes is identified, and each of those candidate’s ballots is redistributed to the voter's second-choice pick.

If that was your vote it still counts: it just moves to your second-choice candidate. That process continues if necessary until there is a candidate who has the majority of votes.

Need more? Check out this video! Ranked Choice Voting Video

 

Learn more about how equal signature requirements, open primaries, and Ranked Choice Voting work together.