Ranked choice voting (RCV), also called instant-runoff voting (IRV) in single-winner races, lets voters rank candidates by preference instead of picking only one.
Voters list candidates in order (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc.). They can rank as many or as few as they want; they do not have to rank everyone.
First-choice votes are counted first. If one candidate has more than 50% of first-choice votes, they win immediately.
If no one has a majority, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Ballots that ranked the eliminated candidate first are then transferred to those voters’ next-ranked remaining candidate.
The process repeats in rounds until one candidate has a majority of the remaining active ballots.
Ranking additional candidates does not hurt a voter’s first choice. A vote only moves to a later preference after the higher-ranked candidate is eliminated. Each ballot still counts as only one vote.
There is also a multi-winner version (proportional RCV or single transferable vote) used to elect several seats at once so representation more closely matches voter support.
RCV is used in places such as Alaska (statewide general elections), Maine (certain federal and primary races), New York City, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and dozens of other U.S. cities.
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