What Is Instant Runoff Voting / Ranked Choice Voting?

Instant Runoff Voting / Ranked choice voting (or IRV / RCV) means that when you go in to vote you have the option of ranking all of the candidates running for each office.  Why would you want to do this?  Great question!  Below are just some of the reasons for and benefits of it.  But before we get to that, here's a quick 2 minute video from our friends at FairVote that explains how it works:

Utah Republican Lobbyist Stan Lockhart’s Top 10 Reasons to like RCV

Saves Taxpayers Money: There's no need for runoff elections that will always have a far less turnout than the primary.  Based on runoff estimates from Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida could save over $30 million for each runoff election it must have, regardless of how many offices are on the ballot.  Imagine if every federal, state, and local election in the state of Florida that has run-off elections, was able to eliminate that and repurpose those funds towards other worthy expenses such as teacher/police/firefighter salaries & equipment.es & equipment.

Shorter Election Season & Less Voter Fatigue: with no need for runoff elections, election season will be much shorter (sometimes up to 8 to 12 weeks shorter) and reduce voter fatigue from campaign advertisement and having to go to the polls multiple times during an election. Places that have switched to IRV / RCV has seen turnout increase by double digits because voters realize they only must go to the polls once.

Majority Winners: Declared winners will have the support of the majority of voters and will actually have a mandate for his platforms and issues to govern for all.  Elected leaders that win with less than 50% of the vote, have a very difficult time governing when the majority have opposed them. IRV / RCV voting requires a majority of 50%+1 vote to win an election.  Very simply, IRV / RCV requires candidates to consider more than their base in order to win.

The Candidate With The Broadest & Deepest Support Almost Always Gets Elected: the candidate with the greatest overall support, will come out victorious after multiple rounds continue, one after another or will be the first to pass the 50% plus one threshold to be declared the winner.

Voters Have A Reason To Learn More About Candidates: with voters allowed to vote for more than one candidate, voters will be enticed to learn more about all candidates so that they can rank the candidates as far down the ballot as possible.

No Need For Strategic Voting: voters no longer have to agonize on deciding who their one vote will go for.  With IRV / RCV, there is no "SPOILER" effect since you can rank every single candidate exactly the way you want and the candidate with the deepest support will be victorious.

More Real Choices:  With ranked choice voting you can vote your conscience as your first choice and still pick whichever party you lean to as your second pick.  With RCV independents & 3rd party candidates have a much more realistic chance to compete and win!

Incentive For Candidates To Be Civil Toward Each Other: candidates will be discouraged from running a negative campaign because every vote will count eventually in IRV / RCV.  When candidates are unable to receive voter's first vote, they can still receive their second vote which could eventually put them over the top.

Fewer Polarizing Candidates Will Get Elected: since candidates need at least 50% plus one to win an election and require wide support, there will be less polarizing candidates running for office.

Voters Can More Fully Express Their Will: voters will be able to vote for their top candidate without fear of throwing away their one and only vote.  That is because they can vote for their top candidate and still use the other votes for other candidates that could get elected.

Sample IRV / RCV Ballot / How it Works

Just like it shows in the video, below is a sample RCV ballot.  Simply fill in one bubble for your 1st choice, another bubble for your 2nd choice, etc, for as many candidates running for the position as you like.  If you only want to bubble in a 1st choice and leave the rest blank, you can do that too!  When the ballots are tabulated, if no candidate has a majority of the vote, the candidate receiving the least number of first place votes is eliminated and everyone who voted for that candidate has their vote re-assigned to their second choice candidate and the votes recounted.  This process continues (done automatically by the voting machines) until someone has a clear majority of the vote.

Where Else is IRV / RCV Being Used?

RCV is already being used in 26 states to some degree.  18 cities across 8 states use it for their local elections.  It is used statewide in Maine and they will be using it in November 2020 for President!  6 states use it for overseas/military voters.  5 states used RCV in their presidential primaries in 2020.  7 other cities have passed it, including New York City in 2019!  50+ universities use it.  Australia has used it for over 100 years.  6 other nations use it too.  In short, it's been time-tested.  We hope you will help us make Florida an innovative leader in improving our elections!

Did You Know?

For almost 30 years and counting, if ranked choice voting had been used in Florida just for governor & president, we would have seen different results if those third party/independent votes were able to be reallocated using RCV.  Below are just some of the highlights you might not have been aware of:

Tell Me More!!

If you would like to learn more about ranked choice voting, our friends at Fairvote.org have a wealth of information and resources.