New York City, Maine, and Alaska. These are just some of the cities and states that have adopted Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in recent years. This nonpartisan voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, has been relatively unremarkable. However, ranked-choice voting is growing in popularity across the United States, and we will hear more about it in the 2022 midterm elections. Below is everything you need to know about rank-choice voting, including whether it will be included on this fall's ballot.

Rank-choice voting allows voters to place multiple candidates on the ballot in the order of their preference instead of choosing one candidate. If one candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, that candidate is considered the winner. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the lowest ranked candidate is eliminated and a second count is conducted. (The voter's first choice is counted in the first round, but if the voter's first candidate is eliminated after the first round, the second choice is counted, and so on.) The goal is to elect a candidate with majority support.

As of September 2022, 56 cities, counties, and states have adopted ranked-choice voting (open in new tab) (exact breakdown: 2 states, 1 county, 53 cities). Some areas use this voting method only in primary elections, while others use it in general elections. For example, Virginia uses RCV in the primary election (open in new tab) and Maine (the first state to use RCV in a federal election) uses RCV in both the primary and general elections (open in new tab).

"Municipalities often use it in general elections in lieu of a two-round runoff because it has proven to be expensive and significantly reduces turnout," a research analyst for FairVote, a nonpartisan organization promoting voting reform (opens in new tab), Rachel Hutchinson explains. 'It can save a lot of time and money in the general election, which is the decisive election.'

After New York City first adopted ranked-choice voting in 2021, exit polls (open in new tab) confirmed that 77% of voters wanted to use ranked-choice voting in future elections, and 95% found it easier to fill out their ballots.

If your city or state has not yet adopted rank-choice voting, the 2022 midterm elections may be the time to vote on whether your city or state will adopt this voting method in the future. According to Hutchinson, there are 10 ballot measures that will be on the ballot this November to determine whether to adopt ranked-choice voting. Nevada (open in new tab) has a statewide measure, but there are also more local ones, including Evanston, Illinois (open in new tab); Portland, Oregon (open in new tab); Seattle, Washington (open in new tab); Fort Collins, Colorado (open in new tab)

However, in some jurisdictions, whether or not to adopt RCV is not always on the ballot. In some states, it can be on the ballot and voted on. In other states, it must go through the state legislature. This varies citywide as well. In some cases, the city council may choose to put the measure on the ballot for voters, while in others, the city council simply adopts it. In many cases, however, it is voter-driven, as voters want to have more choices and better representation on the ballot.

For a list of cities and states that have adopted or are in the process of adopting ranked-choice voting, click here. You can also visit Ballotpedia (opens in new tab) to create a sample ballot and see if you want to vote in the midterm elections.

Ranked-choice voting is known to increase the representation of women and candidates of color; as of January 2022, women hold 51% of City Council seats elected in the RCV (open in new tab) and 12 of the 28 incumbent mayors elected in the RCV are women. By ensuring that a candidate always wins with a majority of the votes cast, voters can choose a representative winner with broad support, rather than a candidate who appeals to a small group of supporters and wins by a narrow margin. It also makes it easier for voters to rank their honest preferences, rather than strategically choosing the more promising candidate to vote for.

"This motivates candidates to reach out to new groups of voters and allows us to express our honest feelings about more than just one candidate," Hutchinson explains. It will also "encourage new and diverse candidates to run for office and increase the representation of women and candidates of color."

Candidates also tend to campaign more aggressively, as they will be competing for second and third place among voters and will rank each other on their ballots. Organizations and politicians embrace the RCV method and support multiple candidates (opens in new tab).

1) It always takes longer to receive the final election results.

This is incorrect. The time it takes to tabulate the final results depends on the election laws and resources of the city or state. Cities that use ranked-choice voting have the ability to provide results immediately on election night, but there can be delays there, depending on the volume of mail ballots received. New York City, for example, waits until Election Day to count mail-in ballots, so delays were expected in the 2021 primary election.

2) Ranked-choice voting decreases turnout.

This is false, as there is insufficient evidence to support this. In fact, turnout in Alaska was higher than in the last three primary elections in which ranked-choice voting was used for the first time (open in new tab). While it is true that a lack of multilingual voter education can be harmful, election boards are encouraged to invest in educational resources before rank choice voting is implemented.

3) The two-party system will collapse.

This is a fallacy. Political scientists agree that this is unlikely to happen with rank choice voting alone. However, younger voters are more likely than older voters to support rank-choice voting (open in new tab) because of their dissatisfaction with the two-party system in the United States.

4) In rank-choice voting, parties are always on the ballot.

Sometimes political parties are on the ballot (as in the 2021 New York primaries), but this is not always true. Cities and states can decide whether or not to list the names of political parties on the ballot and whether or not to rank all choices. These rules vary depending on where you live.

5) Ranked-choice voting is not feasible in large elections.

This is incorrect. Maine and Alaska have proven that rank-choice voting can be successful in large elections. In Alaska's 2022 primaries, 99.8% of the votes cast were valid (open in new tab), and Maine has historically had fewer voting errors (open in new tab).

It is unlikely to happen anytime soon, but it is possible. Hutchinson notes that if it is adopted more at the state level, there is a better chance of enacting federal legislation around it. Currently, a federal law (open in new tab) is in the works that would give states the freedom to adopt ranked-choice voting. H.R. 1 (open in new tab), also known as the For the People Act, has a rank-choice voting provision to allow election equipment to have rank-choice voting capabilities, and a bill called the Fair Representation Act (open in new tab) would introduce rank-choice voting in most federal elections The bill, called the Fair Representation Act (open new tab), would introduce rank-choice voting in the majority of federal elections.

FairVote.org (opens in new tab) has resources on how rank-choice voting works, where it is used, and general research on it. If your state jurisdiction has adopted ranked-choice voting, there is a good chance that its website will also have information on how it is specifically implemented. In the meantime, keep an eye on this statewide ballot measure database (opens in new tab), which is updated immediately after election night, to see if rank-choice voting has passed in your state.