Ranked-choice voting Gains Popularity in US Despite Controversy and Opposition
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a system of voting that has gained increasing popularity in recent years. Under this system, voters rank the candidates on the ballot in order of preference. The candidate who receives the majority of first-choice votes is declared the winner. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the remaining candidates based on the next preference indicated by the voters. This process continues until a candidate receives a majority of votes. While ranked-choice voting has been used in several countries, including Australia and Ireland, it has gained traction in the United States in recent years. Maine became the first state to use ranked-choice voting in statewide elections in 2018. Since then, several other states and cities have followed suit.
However, the use of ranked-choice voting is not without controversy. The Maine Attorney General, Aaron Frey, has stated that implementing ranked-choice voting may require amending the state constitution. In addition, opponents argue that ranked-choice voting can be confusing for voters and can lead to ballot exhaustion, where voters run out of choices before their vote can be counted.
Despite these concerns, many proponents of ranked-choice voting argue that it promotes greater voter participation and ensures that elected officials have broad-based support. The use of ranked-choice voting can also eliminate the need for costly runoff elections, where a second round of voting is held between the two candidates with the most votes. One example of ranked-choice voting in action is the 2018 Maine gubernatorial election. If ranked-choice voting had been used, it is possible that the results may have been different. In that election, the winner received just 47% of the vote, while the second-place candidate received 45%. If voters who had chosen the third-place candidate had been able to indicate a second choice, it is possible that the final outcome may have been different.
Some advocates of ranked-choice voting argue that it should be adopted nationally to replace the current first-past-the-post voting system. Others believe that it should only be used in certain situations, such as when multiple candidates are running for a single position. Opponents of ranked-choice voting argue that it can be mathematically complex and confusing for voters. In addition, some critics argue that it can be biased against certain groups, such as candidates who are not well-known or who are from smaller political parties.
In 2023, Maine will once again use ranked-choice voting in statewide elections. As the use of this system continues to expand across the United States, it remains to be seen whether it will become a permanent fixture in American politics or whether it will remain a niche system used only in certain situations.