Ranked Choice Voting
Contributors
Ariana Bhargava is a student at Barnard College of Columbia University studying Political Science and Economics. She is interested in public policy, advocacy, and journalism.
Key things to know
Ranked choice voting (RCV) is a method of voting where voters have the ability to rank candidates by preference on the ballot, instead of the more popular method of only being able to vote for a singular candidate. Votes are then counted in rounds, eliminating candidates with the least support, until one candidate wins over 50% of the votes.
This method aims to ensure winning candidates are supported by the most citizens in elections with multiple candidates. In a system where only one candidate can be voted for, it is possible for most voters to generally disapprove of the winning candidate. Ranked choice voting alleviates this concern by taking a voter’s other choices into account if their first choice has too few votes. So if a ballot’s first choice has no chance of winning, it can count for its second choice.
RCV supports more representative outcomes and allows the consideration of further input from voters. It also alleviates voters from concerns about how others will vote and the likeness of candidates to win.
Additionally, RCV prevents wasted votes in an instance where a candidate drops out of a race, but still appears on the ballot.
Case studies
Alaska
In 2020, Alaska voters passed a ballot measure that replaced their party primaries with a ranked choice voting system in general elections. At this time, the largest bloc of Alaskan voters are nonpartisan or undeclared. In the state’s first statewide ranked choice voting election, Democrat Mary Peltola won Alaska’s only House seat. Since then, Alaska has kept the ranked choice voting system. In a 2022 exit poll study, 85% of voters said the ranked choice system was simple. According to FairVote, that same year 18% of voters crossed party lines in their top two preferences. In 2024, a second ballot measure initiative took place to restore political party primaries and single-choice general elections. This ballot narrowly failed to pass with 50.11% vote against and Alaska has since continued with the ranked-choice model.
New York City
In 2019, New York passed a ballot measure with 73.5% support that would make the elections for four positions and city council ranked choice voting in the June 2021 primary election, making it the biggest ranked choice voting election in America. Ahead of the election, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $15 million voter education campaign, informing New York City voters on ranked choice voting and how to cast their ballots in June. That year, the New York City Campaign Finance Board found that 88.3% of voters ranked more than one candidate in at least one race on their ballot in the primaries. Additionally, the primary election had the highest voter turnout rate of any mayoral primary in the last few decades. Exit polls suggested New Yorkers widely supported RCV in future elections. Ranked choice voting was again used in the 2023 primaries. Overall, there was an increase of the ranking rate from the 2021 RCV elections for races of comparable size. Additionally, both primaries saw joint campaigning, something made possible by the ranked choice system. In the 2021 primaries, candidates Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia joined each other campaigning with Yang encouraging voters to rank them as first and second choices. FairVote polls indicated a 11% increase in Garcia’s standing with Yang voters. This kind of joint campaigning was seen again in 2023 with District 9 candidates Yusef Salaam and Al Taylor, also encouraging voters to rank them first and second. Ranked choice voting will be used in the upcoming 2025 New York City primary election.
Potential pitfalls
More complicated - if voters struggle to understand this new method, it can lead to more people abstaining from voting or people voting incorrectly, leading to discounted ballots.
More expensive - counting votes in rounds requires more resources and more money.
Wasted votes still exist - if a voter does not rank the candidates that end up in the final two after rounds of counting, their vote is technically exhausted or wasted. Although this is true, this is much less likely to happen in a ranked choice system than in a single-choice system.
Takes more time - counting and processing votes in rounds takes longer, which will delay election results.
Conclusion
Ranked choice voting offers a new form of democratic participation with significant potential to better account for voters’ preferences, diversify those in elected positions, reduce “wasted’ votes, and increase voter turnout. However, obstacles like lack of information, increased resource use, and difficulties passing changes in voting systems make the implementation of RCV more difficult and challenges the efficacy of the new system. The ultimate success of ranked choice voting depends on voters' ability to learn and adapt to a new voting system and take advantage of the ability to voice their opinions on more than one candidate.
