Ranked Choice Voting: Preference not selection

Have you ever felt like your vote didn't really count? Or wished you could support multiple candidates instead of just one? Or maybe you want to just oppose one specific candidate that scares you the most in a position of authority? A voting system called ranked choice voting aims to address these concerns and shake up the way we elect our leaders. Alaska recently adopted this method, and it's generating buzz across the country. Let's discuss it and compare it to our traditional voting system.

Imagine you're at an ice cream shop with twelve of your friends. The shop owner wants to know which flavor to feature as the flavor of the month. In a traditional voting system, you'd each pick your top choice, and whichever flavor got the most votes would win. But what if your favorite flavor isn't very popular? Knowing you are the only one who likes Rocky Road, you might feel you wasted your vote.

Now, picture a different scenario. The shop owner asks you to rank your top three flavors in order of preference. This is similar to how ranked choice voting works. You're not just picking one option; you're expressing your preferences in order and leaving your least desirables off the list. Your preferred flavor doesn't win, but you aren't stuck with the worst flavor.

Here's how it plays out in an election using ranked choice voting: Instead of marking an X next to just one candidate, voters rank multiple candidates in order of preference on their ballots. They put a "1" next to their top choice, a "2" next to their second choice, and so on. The voters don't have to rank all of them, though; they can choose to only rank the candidates they support. Voters can even cast the ballot with only one vote for one person if they want.

When the votes are counted, if one candidate receives over 50% of the first-choice votes, they secure a victory! Confetti falls and people celebrate by handing around the ice cream flavor of the month. But if no candidate reaches that threshold, the counting continues to additional rounds. The election officials eliminate the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes and redistribute those ballots to the voters' second choices. This process continues until one candidate secures a majority.

So, what are the advantages of ranked choice voting? First, it ensures that the winning candidate has broad support. In a traditional system, someone could win with less than 50% of the vote if there are multiple candidates splitting the vote. Ranked choice voting requires a majority, which can lead to winners with wider appeal.

Ranked choice voting can also encourage more positive campaigning. Since candidates might need second-choice votes to win, they have an incentive to appeal to a broader range of voters rather than just attacking their opponents. Candidates focus more on making progress in the middle where compromise can be found, rather than appeasing the hard-liners.

However, ranked choice voting isn't without its critics. Some argue that it's more complicated than traditional voting and might confuse voters. It's true that it requires more effort from voters to rank multiple candidates, and some people might find this overwhelming.

Another concern is that vote counting becomes more complex and time-consuming. Results might not be available as quickly on election night, which could be frustrating for voters eager to know the outcome.

Critics also argue that ranked choice voting can sometimes lead to unexpected or less intuitive outcomes. For example, a candidate who receives the most first-choice votes might not ultimately win if they don't secure enough second and third-choice votes. Although this is most likely to occur in a candidate with a firm base but no outreach into the middle, it is still confusing how someone could lead on election night but lose the election.

As for Alaska, we took the plunge into ranked choice voting in 2020, becoming the second state after Maine to adopt it for statewide elections. Alaskan voters now use this system for state and federal general elections, including for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, and state legislature races.

The debate over ranked choice voting reflects broader questions about how we want our democracy to function. Should we prioritize simplicity and quick results, or aim for a system that might better reflect the nuanced preferences of voters? There's no simple answer, but as more places experiment with ranked choice voting, we'll have more data to evaluate its impact.

Christian M. Hartley is a 40-year Alaskan resident with over 25 years of public safety experience and public service. He runs a freelance business, Big Lake Writer, from home in Big Lake that he shares with his wife of 19 years and their three teenage sons.