Bill Introduced to Promote Ranked Choice Voting

In most U.S. elections today, the candidate with the most votes wins. Under this system, a candidate can win even if they receive far less than a majority of all votes cast. Moreover, voters supporting third parties can inadvertently hand victory to candidates with views diametrically opposed to their own. This can make elections less representative of the voters and discourage political competition. 

Instead of voting for a single candidate, Rank Choice Voting (RCV) allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate earns a majority after counting first choices, the last-place candidate is eliminated. Voters for the eliminated candidate then have their ballot count for their next choice. The process repeats until one candidate earns a majority. Early evidence suggests that, by rewarding candidates for appealing to a broad swath of voters, RCV can discourage extreme partisanship, provide a greater focus on substantive issues, and ensure that election winners better reflect the views of most voters.
  
To date, Maine has adopted RCV for all federal elections, while states like Alabama and South Carolina have embraced RCV to allow overseas and military voters to participate in runoff elections. Local governments in Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Tennessee have also adopted some form of RCV for municipal elections. It has also worked well in more than a dozen municipalities across the country, and has recently been adopted by the state of Maine and New York City.

Now come U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Angus King (I-Maine), along with U.S. Representative Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who want to provide incentives to local and state governments to choose a ranked choice voting model for elections. The bill provides $40 million in federal grants to cover up to 50 percent of the cost for local and state governments that voluntarily choose to transition to RCV. 

According to the legislation’s sponsors, ranked choice voting give voters more choices, discouraging slash-and-burn politics, and rewarding candidates who appeal to a broad majority of voters. They believe RCV gives candidates an incentive to build consensus rather than amplify divisions, de-escalating polarized political conflict.

Ranked Choice Voting is simple, empowers voters, and rewards candidates who broaden support beyond their base. The bill provides resources to communities seeking change without pressuring them to do so.

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