New Voting Methods

Ranked choice voting, an alternative ballot method, has been under attack by the press. Unlike the traditional “pick one” ballot used in most U.S. elections, ranked choice ballots allow voters to rank the candidates in order of preference.

The New York Times has officially endorsed the use of ranked choice voting in the nation's largest city. NYC voters are set to vote on ranked choice voting in November. If passed, RCV will be used in a city of 8 million people starting in 2021.

The nation's largest paper lists a number of reasons for its support, including more choice at the ballot box, more positive campaigns, and RCV's tendency to boost voter turnout in the jurisdictions in which it is already used.

US Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and a group of House colleagues have introduced a bill -- the Ranked Choice Voting Act (HR 4464) -- that would require states to adopt ranked choice voting for primary and general elections for congressional elections beginning in 2022.

Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank the candidates in order of preference and guarantees the winner has over 50% of the vote.

In a first-of-its-kind poll, FairVote partnered with YouGov to showcase the benefits of ranked choice voting to determine the true preferences of Democratic voters in a crowded 2020 field. Instead of the single-choice method used in traditional polling, this poll allowed likely Democratic voters to rank candidates and issues in order of preference to provide a greater insight into the state of the race and potential paths to victory for certain candidates.

Maine is now officially the first state to adopt ranked choice voting (RCV) for presidential elections. LD 1083, Maine Senate President Troy Jackson's bill that expands RCV's use, will become law in January, even without the signature of Governor Janet Mills, ensuring that the new voting method will be used in the November 2020 election.