Understanding Ranked Choice Voting: A Primer before New York City's Primary Election
When New Yorkers cast their ballots in the upcoming mayoral primary, they'll have the power to rank more than one candidate, thanks to ranked choice voting – a system that creates consensus, encourages positive campaigning, and lets voters express their full range of opinions.
Ranked choice voting is a method where voters rank candidates in order of preference, with the number of candidates they can rank depending on local rules. In New York City, voters may rank up to five candidates in a single race.
But don't fret if you only have a single candidate in mind. If that candidate doesn't secure the most votes, your opinion won't go unheard. After the votes are tallied, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and the votes from supporters of that candidate are transferred to their second choice. If no candidate achieves a majority, the process continues, eliminating the last-place candidate and counting the next-ranked choices on all those ballots. This continues until a candidate earns majority support and emerges as the winner.
Curious about how long it takes to tally the votes? The timing depends on the location. In Maine, for instance, the ranked choice tabulation was conducted ten days after Election Day last year for one of the state's congressional districts. In New York City, unofficial results from the first round of votes will be posted on election night, with preliminary elimination rounds a week later. However, it may take some time to project winners due to the need to count every single ballot before knowing the order in which to eliminate last-place finishers.
One key benefit of ranked choice voting, according to supporters, is that it strengthens democracy by promoting positive campaigning and coalition-building, as people choose more than one candidate. The system also encourages politicians to find middle ground, potentially reducing the number of ideological extremists.
For example, mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani in New York recently announced cross-endorsements with fellow contenders Michael Blake and Brad Lander, consolidating support. RCV is also named instant runoff voting, as it replaces separate runoffs for winners to garner majority support.
Following criticism that candidates could win with extremely low percentages in crowded primaries, ranked choice voting eliminates such victories. In 2020, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., won her primary with just 19% of the vote before cruising to an easy general election win. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., won an open primary with 28% in 2022 and sailed through the general election in a safe district.
While opponents claim that RCV confuses voters and leads to ballots being thrown out, New York City's experience shows otherwise. In the 2021 mayoral race, voter participation soared by 29% compared to the 2013 mayoral election, with nearly one million voters participating compared to only 772,000 in 2013. Voter education and clear ballot design are crucial factors in minimizing errors, as shown by initial evaluations in places like Portland, Oregon.
Despite some apprehensions about RCV's complexity, nearly 90% of voters correctly ranked more than one candidate in New York City's elections, demonstrating a strong understanding of the system. With ranked choice voting, voters have more choice and more influence in who represents them.
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