Ranked Choice Voting a Winner on Election Day 2022
November 18, 2022 – Ranked choice voting (RCV) had its biggest Election Day ever:
- Eight cities, counties, and states home to five million people voted to adopt RCV.
- RCV was successfully used in 12 cities and states home to nearly four million people, including for all of Alaska’s federal and state elections and Maine’s federal elections.
Ranked choice voting is the fastest-growing nonpartisan voting reform in the nation; with these ballot wins, it is now reaching a total of 62 jurisdictions with 16 million people.
“This election, ranked choice voting showed again why it’s the fastest-growing, nonpartisan voting reform in the country,” said Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote, a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections for all. “Voters are embracing it from Portland to Portland and New York to Nome, for better choices, better campaigns, and better representation. Everywhere it’s used, voters say they understand and like it – whether in blue, red, or swing parts of the country.”
Ballot Measures
- Ranked choice voting continues to grow across the nation, moving from just 10 cities to at least 62 jurisdictions since 2016 (including the states of Alaska and Maine).
- Eight places voted to adopt RCV on Election Day, including Nevada; Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Multnomah County, OR; Fort Collins, CO; Evanston, IL; Portland, ME; and Ojai, CA. The Nevada ballot question will need to pass again in 2024 for implementation in 2026 and beyond.
- Portland, Oregon voted to become the largest city to use the proportional, multi-member form of RCV – the “gold standard” election system that can lower the temperature on our toxic politics, while ensuring real competition and representation for every voter. Earlier this year, 200 scholars suggested the U.S. should use this type of system to elect our House of Representatives.
- In seven states, the most populous city will now use RCV for its elections: WA (Seattle), OR (Portland), ME (Portland), MN (Minneapolis), NY (New York City) UT (Salt Lake City), and VT (Burlington).
Ranked Choice Voting in Action
- RCV was used in six states – Alaska, Maine, and in city elections in Delaware, California, Maryland, and Oregon. Major cities with RCV elections included both San Francisco and Oakland, California.
- RCV was used for the first time in races for Alaska’s U.S. Senator, governor, and State Legislature. It was also used for the first time in three cities in California and Oregon (Albany, CA; Palm Desert, CA; Corvallis, OR).
- A FairVote/SurveyUSA poll of Maine accurately forecast Jared Golden’s six-point win in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, while Mary Peltola, Lisa Murkowski, and Mike Dunleavy are favored in U.S. House, Senate, and governor races in Alaska.
What’s Next
- Ten jurisdictions have already reported their preliminary or final RCV results, with the vast majority releasing preliminary RCV results on Election Night or within 24 hours. The actual ranked choice tabulation takes just seconds.
- Election administrators in Alaska and Maine depart from this norm for reasons specific to their states. Maine released its RCV results on November 16, and Alaska will release its RCV results via livestream on November 23. This interactive display shows the RCV results in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, and this interactive display includes preliminary, 1st-choice results from Alaska’s RCV races.
Georgia
- For the second cycle in a row, Georgia will have an expensive, month-long, lower-turnout runoff election for a highly competitive U.S. Senate seat. In contrast, RCV in Alaska, Maine, and other places offers an “instant runoff” that doesn’t require voters returning to the polls. The use of RCV would remove the need for separate runoffs – in fact, military and overseas voters in Georgia and five other Southern states already use ranked ballots in the event of a runoff. Rather than vote a second time, these voters return a ranked ballot; in case of a runoff, their vote is counted for their highest-ranked candidate in the runoff.
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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 American.
