Ranked-choice voting

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) lets voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than choosing only one. If a candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, that candidate wins. If not, the candidate with the fewest first choices is eliminated and that candidate's ballots go to the voters' next choices; this repeats until someone has a majority. It is also known as instant-runoff voting when used for a single seat.

Maine and Alaska use RCV in many state and federal elections, and a number of cities do too, including New York City for primaries. Some states have banned it in the last few years. Its advocates say it reduces the "spoiler" effect, allows voters to support third-party candidates without wasting votes and encourages less negative campaigning, since candidates seek second-choice support.

Critics, including many Republicans, argue that it is confusing, delays results, may increase ballots that are discarded when voters do not rank all the candidates ("exhausted ballots") and can yield winners with fewer first-choice votes than rivals, a trait known as non-monotonic outcomes in some cases. It differs from a runoff election, which holds a second round, and from a top-two primary. Alaska voters narrowly kept it in a 2024 repeal vote.