Ranked-choice voting improves electoral outcomes by better representing voter preferences.

What's this about?

People disagree about whether ranked-choice voting gives a better picture of what voters want. It lets people rank candidates instead of choosing only one.

What supporters say

• Ranked ballots show more voter choices than ballots that allow only one pick.
• If a voter’s first choice loses, their next choice can still help decide the race.
• Winners need support from over half of the ballots still counted in the last round.
• Candidates may try to win second and third choices by speaking to more kinds of voters.

What critics say

• Ranked-choice voting cannot always pick the candidate that most people like under every fair rule.
• A win with over half of the last ballots does not mean over half of all voters chose that person first.
• Some results come from test races, and those tests depend on guesses about voters and candidates.
• Studies link ranked voting to kinder campaigns, but they do not prove it causes kinder campaigns.

The bottom line

Ranked-choice voting keeps more of each voter’s ranked choices than one-pick voting. It can give winners wider support in close races, but it cannot guarantee the best result by every rule.