Ranked Choice Voting
This quotation is from a column that was published in the New York Times in May of 2018, under the title "One Reform to Save America". The thing is, we don’t have to settle for “just one structural reform”. And that’s a good thing because ranked choice voting with multimember districts (or at-large elections), while it would be a major improvement in the manner in which we conduct our elections, will not, in and of itself, “save America”. “If we’re going to have just one structural reform to head off (the) nightmare” our political system has become, Proxies for Citizens is the only logical choice. That being said, ranked choice voting would work well in harmony with proxies and would be still be a major improvement in the manner in which we conduct our elections.
Ranked choice voting is a method of voting that allows voters to cast votes for more than one candidate, ranking their choices in order of preference. When used in an election where there is a single winner - an executive office, such as president, governor, lieutenant governor, et cetera; or for seats in a legislature with single-member districts - the tabulation method for ranked choice voting (see below) ensures that winning candidates have the support of a majority of the voters (at some level of preference) instead of just a plurality (the most votes, even if that is less than a majority). This is in harmony with the primary principle of democracy – majority rule.
Using ranked choice voting in at-large elections or in multi-member districts to elect members of a legislative body results in a form of proportional representation – with political parties or other collections of like-minded voters holding a percentage of the seats in a legislature equal to the percentage of the votes candidates from each party receive in an election. This results in legislatures that more accurately reflect the will of the people – another primary principle of democracy.
The benefits of RCV in single-winner elections
Ranked choice voting in single-winner elections:
- ensures that winning candidates have the support of a majority of the voters (at some level of preference);
- allows voters to vote for their true preferences among candidates without worrying about the "spoiler effect" (indirectly hurting the major party candidate you would favor if limited to a choice between the two major party candidates);
- eliminates concerns about "wasted votes" (wasting your vote by voting for minor party and independent candidates who have no realistic chance of winning, giving voters more viable choices;
- results in a broader range of ideas and points of view being discussed;
- discourages negative campaigning (“attack ads") because candidates would not want to alienate the supporters of other candidates, since they might be the second choice of voters who support other candidates; and
- significantly increases rates of voter participation.
This is a sample ranked choice ballot (using candidates from the 2020 presidential election).
Legislation that has already been introduced:
The Ranked Choice Voting Act
The Ranked Choice Voting Act was introduced in the last Congress. It would require states to use ranked choice voting in all elections for the office of Senator and the office of Representative in Congress, including primary, special, and general elections for such office, using a system of ranked choice voting under which each voter shall rank the candidates for the office in the order of the voter’s preference.
The Fair Representation Act
This bill requires (1) that ranked choice voting (a system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference) be used for all elections for Members of the House of Representatives, (2) that states entitled to six or more Representatives establish districts such that three to five Representatives are elected from each district, and (3) that states entitled to fewer than six Representatives elect all Representatives on an at-large basis.