(NewsNation) — At the start of the year, less than a third of Americans were satisfied with the way democracy was working in the U.S., and several states will be considering changing their electoral systems in November.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) — which allows voters to rank candidates by preference on their ballots — has emerged as a popular reform, and multiple states, including Colorado, Oregon and Nevada, have measures on the November ballot that, if passed, would establish statewide ranked choice voting.
At present, Alaska and Maine are the only states to use ranked choice voting for statewide elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). However, it’s more common at the local level. As of the 2022 elections, it had been adopted in 62 jurisdictions, including San Francisco and New York City, according to the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (RCVRC).
“That’s pretty common for electoral reforms,” said Ryan Kirby, director of policy at the RCVRC. “America is this laboratory of democracy, so we usually start things, and they build up.”
What is ranked choice voting?
Ranked choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. Instead of making one selection, voters can list candidates from most to least favored.
That means if your first choice doesn’t win, your ballot could still make a difference based on your second choice.
Proponents say the system is more representative of what voters actually want and reduces problems like “spoiler” candidates who may be afraid of competing out of fear that they might split the vote.
For instance, let’s say there’s a mayoral election where a candidate earns less than 50% of the first-choice vote. Under a ranked choice system, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes would be eliminated and voters who ranked that candidate as their first choice would have their votes count for their next choice. That process continues until someone emerges with a majority.
If a candidate receives a majority of the first-place votes in the first round, then they win, and the race is over.
Ranked choice voting is different from “plurality voting,” in which the candidate who gets the most votes wins, even if they didn’t receive a majority.
With plurality voting, “you can have somebody who wins with 30-40% of the vote, and in that case, that means the majority of the voters preferred somebody other than the person who won,” said Kirby.
Ranked choice voting could also increase positive campaigning since candidates are incentivized to earn second or third-choice support, Kirby pointed out.
What are some concerns?
Because ranked-choice voting isn’t the norm, there are concerns that voters may be confused by how it works.
Others who are opposed argue that RCV could nullify someone’s vote. If a voter only ranks one candidate — and that person doesn’t advance to the next round — the ballot would be exhausted and may not count at all, the NCSL notes.
RCV advocates say it causes more moderate candidates to run and encourages politicians to take moderate positions, but some skeptics fear the opposite could happen.
“In a three-person race, the moderate candidate may be preferred to each of the more extreme candidates by a majority of voters. However, voters with far-left and far-right views will rank the candidate in second place rather than in first place,” two academics argued in a 2022 op-ed for The Hill.
Since ranked choice voting counts only the number of first-choice votes, the more moderate candidate could be eliminated in the first round even if voters prefer them in head-to-head matchups.
Here’s where ranked choice voting is on the ballot in November.
Where is ranked choice voting on the ballot this year?
Ranked choice voting is on the ballot in several states as part of measures aimed at broader changes to the election process.
In Colorado, Proposition 131 would establish ranked choice voting in general elections for the U.S. Senate, congressional races and state elected offices. It would also replace the state’s partisan primary system with a top-four primary, meaning the four top vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of their party affiliation.
Voters in Idaho are considering a similar measure. Proposition 1 would abolish party primaries in favor of a top-four system and implement ranked choice voting. If passed, the initiative would overturn a 2023 law passed by the state legislature that banned ranked choice voting.
In Oregon, Measure 117 would establish ranked choice voting for certain federal and state offices, including the presidency, the U.S. Senate, congressional races and the state governor.
Meanwhile, Proposition 140 could lead to ranked choice voting in Arizona. If approved, it would require ranked choice voting in general elections when something other than top-two primaries is used.
In 2022, Nevada voters approved Question 3 to create a top-five primary system and ranked choice voting for general elections. To take effect, the measure will have to be approved a second time in November.
Repealing RCV in Alaska?
Alaska is one of only two states that use ranked choice voting for statewide elections, but that could soon change.
In November, voters will decide on an initiative that would return the state to partisan primaries and eliminate the ranked choice voting system, which was approved via a ballot measure in 2020.
Under the current system, the four primary candidates that receive the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. At the general election, Alaska voters elect state and federal candidates, including the president, using ranked choice voting. A candidate wins when they receive more than 50% of the vote.
That system was first used in 2022 and resulted in Rep. Mary Peltola becoming the first Alaska Native woman to ever serve in Congress and the first Democrat to take Alaska’s at-large congressional seat in decades following the death of Republican Rep. Don Young, who’d held the seat for 49 years. Peltola beat out former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The system will also apply to this year’s election, with Peltola up for reelection.
Backers of the measure to overturn ranked choice voting say it’s complex and cite polling suggesting it may have contributed to low voter turnout in the state in 2022.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board has also called on Alaska voters to repeal the 2020 system, in part because a congressional candidate who earned just 467 primary votes is set to appear on this year’s general election ballot. That man, Eric Hafner, is currently in a federal prison in New York until 2036, but due to the state’s top-four primary system, he’s been allowed to move forward.
Those in favor of Alaska’s ranked choice voting process say it gives voters more options and empowers those who are not on the political extremes.
“It also allows for better candidates, qualified individuals who can take thoughtful, moderated positions that would not have allowed them to survive a primary vote in the last few years, in either political party,” Bryan Schroder, former U.S. attorney for the District of Alaska, has argued.
This year, Alaska voters can rank all eight presidential candidates if they choose to do so.
In 2020, Donald Trump won the state’s three Electoral College votes with 52.8% of the tally. If the ranked voting system had been in place back then, voters’ second choice would not have mattered because Trump earned over 50%.
Elsewhere, voters in Missouri will consider a measure to preemptively block ranked choice voting. According to the NCSL, ten states — Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Kentucky, Montana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee — currently prohibit the use of ranked choice voting in all or some elections.