Rank Choice Voting lets voters rank candidates by preference, ensuring winners have broad support while reducing vote-splitting and negative campaigning.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a voting system that allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than choosing just one. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed to the voters’ next choices. This process repeats until one candidate earns a majority. By ensuring winners have broad support, RCV reduces vote-splitting, discourages negative campaigning, and allows voters to express their true preferences without fear of “wasting” their vote.
RCV ensures elected officials win with majority support, not just a the percentage threshold to beat other candidates. This strengthens legitimacy and voter confidence.
Voters can support their preferred candidates without strategic pressure because of vote splitting. This encourages honest participation and broader representation.
Candidates are rewarded for appealing to a wider range of voters, reducing negative campaigning and polarization.
RCV strengthens confidence in election outcomes by ensuring results are shaped by voter preferences, not technical quirks of the system.
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