Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked Choice Voting is already used for statewide elections in Alaska and Maine, and local elections in more than 50 cities and counties including New York City; San Francisco; Takoma Park, Maryland; Arlington, Virginia; and Oakland, California.

How Ranked Choice Voting works

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) allows you the option to rank your favorite candidates: first, second, third, fourth, fifth. Your vote stays with your first choice unless they are in last place, when your vote automatically moves to your next choice. You do not have to rank more than one candidate.

When the ballots are counted, if a candidate receives more than half of the first choices, that candidate wins.

However, if no candidate gets more than half the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed. If you picked that candidate first, then your vote goes to your next choice. You only have to rank your choices once – this counting process continues automatically until a candidate wins with more than 50% of the vote.

Why we need Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked Choice Voting has proven results