Fact Sheet: Ranked Choice Voting in 2025 Elections
October 23, 2025 – This year, voters in 18 cities and counties are using ranked choice voting (RCV) to elect their leaders – including 14 on Election Day in under two weeks. This includes the largest cities in three states: New York City, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City.
Below is more info on ranked choice voting on Election Day 2025:
Ranked choice voting on Election Day 2025
- 14 cities and counties will use ranked choice voting this November, across seven states (CO, DE, MA, MN, NM, UT, VA).
- This includes mayoral elections in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN; Santa Fe, NM; and Fort Collins, CO, which is using RCV for the first time.
- Most cities produce preliminary RCV results within 24 hours of polls closing, including 12 of the 14 locations on Election Day. The RCV count takes just seconds. (Where results have been slower, it has been a choice by election administrators to allow all ballots to come in before reporting any preliminary RCV results.)
Ranked choice voting in New York City
- Earlier this year, New York City used ranked choice voting in its primaries for mayor, city council, and other local offices.
- 78% of voters ranked multiple candidates for mayor, 96% said their ballot was simple to complete, and the city saw its highest turnout since 1989. The mayoral campaign was shaped by “cross-endorsements” with rival candidates campaigning together – a positive campaign style only possible with RCV.
- The city also elected its first-ever majority-women city council in its first RCV election in 2021; it is poised to maintain the majority-women council this year.
- Notably, the city does not use RCV for its general election – which has been dominated by accusations of candidates playing “spoiler” and calls for candidates to drop out. Expanding RCV to the general election would solve these problems.
Ranked choice voting adoptions in 2025
- On Election Day, voters in Greenbelt, MD will vote on an advisory measure asking the city to adopt RCV. Annapolis and Rockville, MD could be next to join Greenbelt.
- In April, Skokie, IL voted to adopt RCV for its local elections – joining fellow Chicagoland cities Evanston and Oak Park.
- In July, the Washington, D.C. council voted to fund ranked choice voting – which voters passed by a 3-to-1 margin in 2024, with supermajority support in all eight of the District’s wards.
Rankd choice voting and Other 2025 Elections
- As we saw in the 2025 New York City mayoral primary, ranked choice voting delivers majority winners in crowded fields. Two Democratic statewide nominees – NJ Gov. candidate Mikie Sherrill (34%) and VA Lt. Gov candidate Ghazala Hashmi (27%) – won their crowded primaries despite the vast majority of voters supporting other candidates.
- California voters will decide on Proposition 50, which would suspend the state’s independent redistricting commission in response to mid-cycle gerrymandering in Texas. Meanwhile, other states like Missouri, North Carolina, and Indiana continue the gerrymandering race to the bottom.
- This national problem will only be fixed with a national solution, like the Fair Representation Act, which would deliver proportional representation in the U.S. House with multi-member districts and RCV.
Full list of cities/counties using RCV on Election Day
- Colorado
- Fort Collins (1st use)
- Delaware
- Arden
- Massachusetts
- Cambridge
- Easthampton
- Minnesota
- Minneapolis
- St. Paul
- Bloomington
- Minnetonka
- St. Louis Park
- New Mexico
- Santa Fe
- Las Cruces
- Utah
- Salt Lake City
- Midvale
- Virginia
- Arlington County
In addition to New York City, Oakland and Redondo Beach, CA; St. Paul, MN; and Charlottesville, VA have also held RCV elections earlier this year. Ranked choice voting has grown from just 10 cities in 2016 to 50 states, counties, and cities reaching 17 million Americans across the nation. It is used in the most populous cities in seven states.
Research over several years shows that RCV is delivering on its promise of less toxic campaigning, and that candidates in RCV elections reach out to more voters. Voters overwhelmingly say they like and understand ranked choice voting. More women and peopleofcolor run for office and win with ranked choice voting.
###
FairVote is a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections for all. We research and advance voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every voter.
