Ranked choice voting (RCV) fits within the Democratic Party’s presidential delegate selection rules, including proportional delegate allocation and the 15% “threshold.” Ranked choice voting can be used to select multiple winners, and is not inherently a majority-winner or winner-take-all system. As the Democratic National Committee and states consider how RCV might be used in the 2028 presidential primaries, this post explains how votes could be counted and delegates awarded.  

How are votes counted and delegates awarded in Democratic presidential primaries in general?

Democratic Party rules require that candidates receive at least 15% of the vote in a state to earn delegates for the national convention. Delegates in each state are awarded proportionally – this means that every candidate at or above 15% receives delegates in proportion to their share of the vote.

How does this work with ranked choice voting?

Ranked choice voting fits easily within the Democratic Party’s proportional delegate allocation rules and 15% threshold. This is how it was successfully used in six states in the 2020 and 2024 Democratic presidential primaries. RCV is not inherently a majority-winner or winner-take all system.

See two examples below of how votes can be counted and delegates allocated. Click the arrows to see the tally.

Version 1: “Bottoms-Up” Tally

Version 2: “Batch Elimination” Tally 

Both approaches to counting votes align with the Democratic Party’s 15% threshold and proportional delegate allocation rules – while giving more voters a say in who their party nominates.  

How has ranked choice voting worked in previous presidential primaries? 

Since 2020, six states have used RCV ballots in their Democratic presidential primaries: Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, and Wyoming. Currently, RCV is required by law for presidential primaries in both Maine and Washington, DC. 

In previous years, individual Democratic state parties have determined how to run their presidential primary within the parameters of the Democratic National Committee’s Delegate Selection Rules, which neither explicitly encouraged nor prevented the use of RCV. 

In the five states that used RCV in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, voters ranked candidates at high rates and with almost no errors. 98% of voters saw their vote contribute to a candidate winning delegates, compared to 88% in other states. By comparison, in the 2020 primaries, eight million Democratic voters did not contribute to a candidate winning delegates – including three million voters who cast an early or mail vote for a candidate who then dropped out by their state’s primary day. 

Read more on how RCV has positively impacted presidential primaries in 2020 and in 2024.