Ranked Choice Voting

Abstract A recent and popular electoral and political reform sweeping across the United States is ranked choice voting (RCV). This method of group decision-making asks voters to create an ordered list of preferences over a range of alternatives. Proposed as a solution to inherent problems with plurality or first-past-the-post elections, RCV has some paradoxical characteristics and implementation issues of its own. In North America, RCV is neither new nor uniform in its application. RCV can be used for the selection of a single winner, such as a public official or a group consensus, or multiple winners, such as representatives for a city council or a legislature. This book considers RCV as a family of decision-making methods: preferential voting, instant runoff voting, the alternative vote, and the single transferable vote. The common link among these is that voters must rank their preferences on a ballot. Subtle variations in rules can lead to differences in outcomes. In all its forms, this electoral system aims to find a mutually satisfactory outcome approved by a majority of voters or group participants. The book uses a wealth of data from election theory to observed election outcomes, from political history to interviews with advocates, detractors, and election administrators. This book offers a balanced view of RCV in North American elections. Neither advocacy nor opposition, the evaluation of RCV elections presents essentials for understanding the theory, history, analysis, and administration of RCV.