New Jersey held its congressional primary elections on June 2, and the winners of several crowded races did not secure a majority of the vote. In the 12th Congressional District, for instance, the Democratic nominee had support from just 28% of primary voters – and is now all but guaranteed to win the general election for this safe blue seat.

The problem is New Jersey’s choose-one election method, in which more choice can lead to less representative outcomes. Ranked choice voting (RCV) would solve that problem, giving voters more power and ensuring nominees have majority support.

Vote-splitting in the New Jersey primary

When multiple candidates run in a choose-one election, winners can emerge without majority support. Crowded primaries are especially common in races with retiring incumbents, or when a party believes it has a strong chance of flipping a seat. This was the case in New Jersey’s safe blue 12th District, where 13 Democrats ran to succeed retiring incumbent Bonnie Watson Coleman. 

New Jersey 12th District Democratic primary results

New Jersey’s 12th District is deep blue, so the Democratic nominee is highly favored to win in November. That means a small fraction of the primary electorate has effectively chosen the representative for the entire district. Additionally, preliminary results show the margin between the top two candidates is just 9,614 votes – compared to 41,488 votes for the other 11 candidates.

This is not the first time we’ve seen this problem in New Jersey this year. In February, after 11th District Rep. Mikie Sherrill resigned to become New Jersey’s governor, 11 candidates ran in the special Democratic primary to replace her. Analilia Mejia won with 29% of the vote, and the margin between the top two candidates was just 1,186 votes – about 25 times less than the number of voters who picked candidates outside the top two. Mejia went on to easily win the special general election in the heavily blue seat.

Ranked choice voting can improve New Jersey primaries

Ranked choice voting is a simple change to our elections that ensures winners have majority support, and parties are united entering general elections.

Voters can rank candidates in order of preference. If their first choice can’t win, their vote counts for their next choice. This frees voters from worrying about how others will vote, and which candidates are more or less likely to win. More candidates can run without fear of playing spoiler.

Many voters across New Jersey have already embraced this idea. Nine New Jersey cities – including the state’s second most populous, Jersey City – have passed resolutions in support of RCV. A bill is currently being considered in the state legislature that would authorize cities to use it. And Andy Kim – one of New Jersey’s U.S. senators – has sponsored the Ranked Choice Voting Act in Congress.

To learn more about RCV in the Garden State, visit Voter Choice New Jersey.