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News Story
Don’t vote for just one: Ranked choice voting is gaining ground
Last month, voters in Nevada, Seattle and at least six other jurisdictions around the country approved measures to change how they elect their leaders. Instead of voting for just one candidate, they instead will rank a slate of candidates.
Ranked choice voting has seen steady success in recent years. Nationwide, 62 jurisdictions have adopted the voting method, including Alaska and Maine in statewide races and New York City for local races. And with the 2024 presidential primaries looming, ranked choice voting advocates see an opening to gain broader appeal.
Proponents of the voting method argue it leads to better representation of voters’ viewpoints and more collegial campaigning while eliminating the need for costly runoff elections. Opponents say it’s too complicated for the average voter to understand.
Voters in Alaska and a handful of other cities used ranked choice voting for the first time during this year’s midterms. And voters in Evanston, Illinois; Fort Collins, Colorado; Multnomah County, Oregon; Ojai, California; Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle passed ballot initiatives to adopt the voting method in future elections.
But in Washington state, voters in Clark and San Juan counties rejected ballot initiatives that would have adopted ranked choice voting for county elections.
In ranked choice elections, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate is the top preference for more than 50% of voters, an instant runoff process starts. The candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Those votes are then distributed to the candidates listed as a second preference. The process continues until one candidate has gained majority support.
In some communities, the counting process can take hours. In other states that rely on mail-in voting, the process can take days or weeks.
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