Alabama primary runoffs should be replaced with ranked choice voting

Yesterday, Alabama held delayed primary runoffs to choose the Democratic and Republican nominees for its 2nd Congressional District. On the GOP side, runoff turnout fell by more than half – just 44% of first-round voters participated. It was “better” on the Democratic side, where turnout “only” fell by 37%. Runoffs are supposed to produce majority winners – but both runoff winners got fewer votes in the runoff than they got in the first round! 

Ranked choice voting (RCV) would have produced decisive outcomes in a single election six weeks ago, with more voters weighing in and with less cost to taxpayers.

The open seat drew crowded fields in both primary elections on March 6. Eight candidates ran in the Republican primary, and 11 ran on the Democratic side. No candidate received a majority of votes in either contest, triggering the delayed runoffs. 

Former U.S. Justice Department official Shomari Figures and state House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels competed in the Democratic primary runoff, having advanced from the initial contest with 44% and 22% of votes, respectively. Figures came out on top last night with 61% of the low-turnout vote. 

The Republican primary runoff featured former state Senator Dick Brewbaker and attorney Caroleene Dobson, who received 40% and 27% respectively in the initial contest. Dobson secured the nomination with 58% of the delayed runoff vote, despite turnout declining by a whopping 56%. 

For months, Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District has been at the center of national conversations on voting rights and the partisan balance of the House. Last year, a federal court redrew Alabama’s district lines after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the former lines violated the Voting Rights Act by packing Black voters into a single congressional district. This year’s election is the first under the new lines. 

Nonpartisan forecasters say the new 2nd Congressional District leans Democratic but could be competitive this fall. With every competitive seat crucial to the partisan balance of power in the House, it’s unfortunate that the nominees for this important race were selected by only about 10% of the electorate. 

Broadly speaking, delayed runoff elections are expensive and experience a near-universal turnout decline. There’s a faster, cheaper, better way to pick winners with majority support: ranked choice voting. With RCV, voters rank the candidates in order of preference, and an instant runoff is triggered when necessary. If a voter’s favorite candidate isn’t viable, their vote can count for a backup choice. Jurisdictions like New York City, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco have adopted RCV to avoid two-round elections. 

Alabama and five other southern states already use RCV for military and overseas voters. These voters receive a ranked ballot, and if a race proceeds to a runoff, their ballot counts for whichever runoff candidate they ranked highest. Because of RCV, these voters don’t need to worry about delivery or administrative delays preventing them from having their voice heard in the runoff. 

All Alabamians deserve the same convenience of only having to vote once per contest.