Ranked Choice Voting - RCV

A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots...

In the most commonly used form of RCV today, sometimes called instant-runoff voting (IRV), if a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, and second-preference choices on these ballots are then elevated to first-preference. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.

Ranked-choice voting (RCV), also called 'instant runoff voting,' is portrayed as a viable alternative to the status quo, but in reality, it is a disaster. Funded by the progressive Left, RCV advocacy organizations claim that this massive overhaul can improve voter confidence by providing more candidate choices, decreasing negative campaigning, and ensuring majority rule. But these are false promises... Key Findings:

• Ballots in ranked-choice voting elections are more complex than traditional "one-person, one vote" elections.
• Exhausted ballots in ranked-choice voting races silence the voice of significant portions of the electorate.
• Districts using ranked-choice voting have lower voter turnout rates.
• Ranked-choice voting changes and delays the election counting process.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Lawmakers should ban ranked-choice voting at all levels of government.

... ranked choice voting (or "instant runoff voting") - but it is really a scheme to disconnect elections from issues and allow candidates with marginal support from voters to win elections. In the end, it is all about political power, not about what is best for the American people and for preserving our great republic. So-called reformers want to change process rules so they can manipulate election outcomes to obtain power. Key Takeaways:

1. Ranked choice voting is a scheme to disconnect elections from issues and allow candidates with marginal support from voters to win.
2. It obscures true debates and issue-driven dialogs among candidates and eliminates genuine binary choices between two top-tier candidates.
3. It also disenfranchises voters, because ballots that do not include the two ultimate finalists are cast aside to manufacture a faux majority for the winner..

Ballot Exhaustion

How could this happen? Because of a phenomenon known as ballot exhaustion. A study published in 2015 that reviewed 600,000 votes cast using ranked choice voting in four local elections in Washington State and California found that "the winner in all four elections receive[d] less than a majority of the total votes cast."...

Many voters may only list their top two or three candidates, particularly when there are candidates on the ballot for whom they would never even consider voting.

Thus, if a voter only ranks two of the five candidates and those two are eliminated in the first and second rounds of tabulation, their choices will not be considered in the remaining rounds of tabulation. This ballot exhaustion leads to candidates being elected who were not the first choice of a majority of voters...

1. What RCV Doesn't Do: Guarantee A Majority
2. What RCV Doesn't Do: Properly Address Vote Splitting
3. What RCV Doesn't Do: Always Let You Honestly Rank Your Favorite Candidate First
4. What RCV Doesn't Do: Work In Presidential Elections
5. What RCV Doesn't Do: Help Third Parties