New Canadian Prime Minister will be chosen with ranked choice voting
March 10 update: Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has been elected as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party with 86% of first choices, and will be sworn in as the Canadian Prime Minister in the coming days.
On March 9, members of the Liberal Party of Canada will elect the party’s new leader using ranked choice voting (RCV). Because Liberals hold the most seats in Parliament, their new party leader will automatically become the Canadian Prime Minister and will lead the party into a general election later this year. It’s not just the Liberals who use RCV: Most of Canada’s major parties do, including the Conservatives, who have used RCV since 2004.
It’s no wonder RCV is so popular among Canada’s parties. Candidates must be able to appeal to the whole party, not just their existing base. Campaigning stays more positive because candidates can’t afford to alienate any voters. More voters feel bought-in to the winner – even if they ranked them 2nd or 3rd on their ballot – and the party enters the general election more united and enthusiastic.
We’ve seen similar benefits in the U.S., where research shows that candidates who win their primaries with majority support are more likely to win their general elections.
In the U.S., we’ve seen that candidates who win a majority in primary elections go on to perform better in general elections. Virginia Republicans made headlines in 2021, after candidates they nominated with RCV swept every statewide election in a state where the party hadn’t won a statewide election since 2009. In 2020 and 2024, several Democratic and Republican state parties use RCV in presidential primaries – giving voters more voice and more choice, and letting voters vote honestly without fear that their vote would be wasted. Last year, Maine used RCV in its state-run presidential primaries for the first time.
Notably, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who’s resignation triggered the current leadership contest – said one of his main regrets is not expanding RCV to general elections:
I do wish that we’d been able to change the way we elect our governments in this country so that people could simply choose a second choice or a third choice on the same ballot, so that parties would spend more time trying to be peoples’ second or third choices, and people would have been looking for things they have in common instead of trying to polarize the divide Canadians against each other.
If you live in the U.S. and want to bring this common sense reform to your community, join an RCV group in your state today.
