Ranked choice voting really is really simple. Under the measure, voters are free to vote for their favorite candidate, and also have the power to rank their backup choices (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, ect.) if they like.

When ballots are counted, if a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the first choices, they would be declared the winner. If not, the candidate with the fewest first choices would be eliminated, and the voters who ranked that candidate first would have their second choice counted when the ballots are tabulated again. This process continues until a candidate emerges with majority support.

In a majority winner system, candidates have to gain the support of more than half of the voters to win. That’s in comparison to a “plurality” system in which the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is declared the winner, even if that’s only a minority of the vote. In the case of a three-way race, a candidate can win with as little as 34% of the vote, meaning 66% of people voted for someone other than the winning candidate – that shouldn’t be how democracy works, and the plurality system doesn’t respect the majority will of voters or the spirit of democracy.

Ranked choice voting is definitely “one person, one vote.” This is a tried-and-true method for military voters that are deployed overseas and might otherwise not have the opportunity to vote in every election. It is also used statewide in Maine, and in more than a dozen U.S. cities, and by other democracies around the world to make sure they are electing leaders that have the support of a majority of voters.

Ranking items by preference is something we do all the time. Any voter who has completed a ballot with more than one candidate has had to weigh their choices. And voters in jurisdictions that have adopted ranked choice voting consistently report higher levels of comfort with, and understanding of, the system.

In Maine, more than 74 percent of respondents in an exit poll after the 2018 general election found ranking their choices to be very or somewhat easy. 

In a 2014 study, 84 percent of surveyed voters in four California cities using ranked choice voting said they understood the system somewhat or very well. Voters in those cities also reported a sense that political campaigns were more civil and used less negative advertising and messaging.

More choice, more voice, more power!

Even if your favorite candidate doesn’t win, you still have a say in who’s elected.

You can vote your conscience without worrying that you’re wasting your vote or electing a candidate you don’t like.

Ranking a 2nd, 3rd, etc. choice will never hurt your favorite candidate.

No! Ranking is an option, not required. RCV empowers voters to rank their preference if they think other candidates deserve their backup choice(s).

The ability to rank candidates is good for voters, it is good for leaders, it is good for political parties and candidates that want to serve their community. We know this sounds like we’re listing everybody in the election process, and it’s true.

Ranking candidates gives voters more choice, letting us support our favorite candidate without worrying about voting against someone else.

Ranked choice voting is good for leaders because it changes campaigning from a negative focus on how they’re not “the other guy” and instead means that candidates can talk about the issues voters care about.

It’s good for parties because it helps them understand what voters actually care about. When you can list your first and second choice, that sends a message to the party to get on board with the issues that your first and second choice campaigned on. Without ranked choice voting, they would never know your secondary priorities.

Finally, ranked choice voting lowers the barriers to entry for candidates because the voters have the power, not party elites. This means candidates that better reflect their communities have a real chance at winning, so more run, and then the leadership can look less like the folks chasing special interests and not getting any work done, and instead look more like real Vermonters ready to find solutions.

The data shows it can help increase better representation. Under ranked choice voting more women of color run for office and that more people of color win their races. Ranking creates political campaign environments where multiple candidates from the same community of color can run without the worry of spoiling the election, splitting the vote, or being told to drop out.

For more research on women’s representation with Ranked Voting, click here.

Some data from a 2016 holistic study of “minority representation” in the Bay Area: In cities that adopted RCV, 24% more candidates of color won elections compared to the seven control cities in the region that did not adopt RCV and saw only a 12% increase in victories for candidates of color over the same time period. Cities that adopted RCV had 7% more female candidates of color run for office, while cities that did not adopt RCV stayed the same. Similarly, female candidates of color won 7% more of the elections held in cities with RCV, whereas cities without RCV saw a decrease in the percentage of winning female candidates of color over the same period.

For more data on ranked voting and representation for communities of color, click here.