Depending on who you ask, ranked choice voting can either reward extreme and wealthy candidates in elections or lead to a more publicly-palatable electoral process and encourage voter engagement.
The practice has grown in prevalence in recent elections – particularly in Alaska and Maine, plus Virginia, to some extent – entailing a hierarchical approach to election tallies. Several rounds of tabulation occur after voters are asked at the polls to choose their candidates in order of preference.
In the first round, totals for each candidate are tabulated, and the candidate with the fewest “first votes” is eliminated, and the “second votes” of that candidate’s supporters are added to the totals of the remaining candidates until a winner is decided.
A Republican former Alaska U.S. Senate candidate fell on the side of RCV critics, while a Republican former state lawmaker in Virginia credited it with leading to a political shakeup in his state. Democrats appeared similarly divided.
Democrats in Maine and New York have praised the system, while one Democratic governor appeared to throw up a potential roadblock in the way of his state’s implementation. He later stated that he would support the will of the people in a forthcoming ballot measure.
ALASKA SUES FEDS OVER ‘KNOWINGLY’ POLLUTED NATIVE LANDS
A ballot drop box in Atlantic City (AP)
Ballot measures implementing or banning RCV will appear in Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, Missouri and Colorado. Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Kentucky also have pre-emptively banned RCV.
Former Virginia State Del. Chris Saxman, a Staunton Republican who is now executive director at the free-enterprise non-profit Virginia Free, told Fox News Digital that RCV worked in the selective way it was implemented in his state.
During the 2021 gubernatorial sweeps, Virginia Republicans utilized RCV in their primary candidate selection process, which led to Glenn Youngkin winning the nomination.
Virginia Republicans voted to hold a…
