Ranked Choice Voting could take your vote away.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) is an electoral scheme that adds more confusion to the voting system while threatening our democracy and failing to ensure that every vote counts.
Ranked choice voting (RCV), also known as instant run-off voting, is an electoral scheme that adds more confusion to the voting system while threatening our democracy and failing to ensure that every vote counts.
Each citizen should have one vote, and every vote should count. But with a system like RCV, voters could lose their say.
How does RCV work?
All candidates appear on one ballot. Voters then rank each candidate from “1” (their first choice) to “4” (or “5”, etc.–their last choice). Voters are not required to rank each candidate; however, this could result in their ballot being discarded by the end of the election.
A candidate with 50 percent or more of first-preference votes wins the election. If no one person claims the majority in the first round, those with the fewest votes are eliminated. The process repeats with the elimination of many candidates (if needed) until one candidate receives a majority of the leftover votes and is declared the winner.
But with RCV, sometimes your vote doesn’t count at the end of the election due to “ballot exhaustion.” It occurs when voters make ballot marking mistakes due to RCV confusion or by only ranking candidates that are eventually eliminated from contention. In these instances, your ballot is discarded and your vote no longer counts.
Example of Successfully Filled Out RCV Ballot
Example of Exhausted RCV Ballot
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Many organizations, think tanks, and individuals have researched the negative effects Ranked Choice Voting has on the democratic process. Below are detailed reports on how RCV harms your vote.