ranked-choice voting
Ordered candidate selection
Ranked-choice voting is an electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting just one.
If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their voters' ballots transfer to their second choices.
This continues until someone reaches a majority.
Also called instant-runoff voting.
Maine uses ranked-choice voting for federal elections.
- ballotVoting document
- tactical votingVoting to block, not support
- fair representationAccurate proportional inclusion
- coalition buildingCreating partnerships among groups
- spoiler effectThird option skews results
majority rule · exhausted · participatory democracy · civic engagement · voter turnout · preferential voting · election integrity · voter registration · absentee voting · secret ballot · primaries · Maine · voting reform · political accountability · tally · preferential · reform · threshold
- electionsballot, ballots, voter registration, candidates, polls
- party politicspolitical party, party, parties, party member, party system
- polarizationpolarizer, divide, polarized light, divisiveness, polarizing filter
ranked-choice votingfirst-past-the-post
Most votes wins
winner-take-all · block voting · electoral college · proportional representation