This is an article from the June 2025 Civitas Examiner (Volume 2, No. 3) and was written by one of our students, Henry B. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue. To read more Civitas Examiner stories or to submit your own, click here.
Ranked choice voting is a system that allows voters to rank their choices for an elected position, in contrast to only being able to choose one. This system is used in places such as Alaska, Maine, New York City, and many more. Proponents of ranked choice voting say it is the best way to conduct democracy, and critics say it is a confusing mess. First, we have to know how it really works.
A ranked choice election starts off simple enough: you rank your top 5 choices for a certain elected position. All the candidates should be ranked in the order you prefer them in.
When the votes in the election are counted, initially, only your first choice counts. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the first choice votes, then the election is won by that person. If that does not happen, the election continues.
The candidate with the least amount of votes is dropped every round. The people who voted for that candidate have their votes distributed to their other choices. This process continues until one person has 50% of the vote or higher, and is named the winner of the election.
Proponents of this system say that it guarantees people will not engage in “lesser of two evils voting”. People will always cast a vote for one of their top 5 candidates. This will ensure that people never have to vote for a candidate that they are ultimately opposed to being in office.
Opponents of this system claim that it is too confusing to be implemented nationally. The system could be bad for people who do not have as much time to research political candidates as other people. This could lead to voting being skewed to upper-class elites and their views.
Ranked-choice voting was recently used in the 2025 New York City Mayoral Democratic primary race. Zohran Mamdani is projected to beat Andrew Cuomo and many other lower-polling candidates to head to the general race in November. In this election, there was a 30% increase in voters compared to the 2017 NYC Mayoral election, which did not use ranked-choice voting. This data could show that ranked-choice voting is motivating people to get out and vote.
Advocates of ranked-choice voting use examples such as New York City as a reason for implementing this system nationwide. However, it is hard to say whether this goal will ever be realized. Times for processing each election would become much longer after every election. Ballots would also get much more confusing. On the other hand, people would be able to vote for candidates who they actually like without compromise. Also, third parties would have much higher chances of winning positions under a ranked-choice voting system.
Ranked-choice voting is a contentious subject with supporters and opponents on both sides of the political spectrum. Some cities and states are adopting this system for future elections, while other states are outright banning it. No matter where you stand on the issue, it is a fact that ranked-choice voting will be talked about and considered for years to come.
