This week, voters in 11 cities used ranked choice voting (RCV) to elect mayors, city council members, and other officials. Voters in five cities approved ballot measures to adopt, keep, or expand RCV – bringing RCV’s winning streak to 27 city ballot measures in a row. 

Yet, 2023 also saw many local elections where RCV would have improved the process – including races won with low pluralities and those where voters must return to the polls again for runoffs.

Low pluralities 

Single-choice voting often results in the election of candidates most voters do not support. This is because anyone can win with just a tiny fraction of the public behind them, as long as the remaining votes are split between several other candidates. One example of this was a judicial race in Louisville, KY, in which three-fourths of voters did not support the winner!

Some jurisdictions, such as the state of Louisiana and Houston, TX,  attempt to mitigate this issue by holding runoff elections when no candidate secures a majority in the general election. However, these too are problematic: They’re costly, time consuming, and result in far lower and less representative turnout than the general election. For instance, Texas runoffs cost taxpayers a median of $7 per resident, and congressional primary runoffs typically have 40% lower turnout than the general. This year, we saw dramatic turnout declines in the largest cities in Wisconsin and Arizona. Runoff elections are designed to produce a majority winner – but the runoff winner often receives fewer total votes than they did in the general election!  

Contrast Portland, Maine with the nearby city of Lewiston. Portland uses a single round of ranked choice voting as a faster, cheaper, better alternative to runoffs. But Lewiston voters will have to return to the polls on December 12 to select their mayor – leading some to make the case that Lewiston should join Portland in using RCV.

Mayoral election results in Portland, ME

RCV gives officials a clear mandate to lead, without the cost and turnout dropoff associated with runoffs. Voters and legislators see these benefits, and are making RCV the fastest-growing nonpartisan voting reform in the nation. If you want to bring RCV to your community, visit FairVote Action to find an RCV organization near you!