Ranked choice voting has measurable positive impacts for voters and candidates
of color, a new FairVote report finds. Donate Today


Dear John,

Ranked choice voting(RCV) has measurable positive impacts for voters and
candidates of color, anew FairVote reportfinds. The report examines 448 ranked
choice voting elections across 20 years – a testament to the staggering growth
this movement has seen over the last two decades.

Key findings from the report include:

* Candidates of color benefit from the RCV counting process, gaining more
support as lower-performing candidates are eliminated.
* RCV allows several candidates of color to run in the same race without
“splitting the vote.”
* Voters of color tend to rank more candidates than White voters.
* Naturalized citizens and permanent residents support ranked choice voting and
proportional representation.

These findings build on research and election data showing that candidates of
color are more likely to win RCV contests, and several previoussurveysshowing
high support for RCV among Black and Latino voters.

Check out the video below, where Research Analyst Sabrina Laverty and I discuss
why we decided to do this research now:

The report also includes case studies about historic candidates elected in RCV
races, including majority-people of color city councils in New York City, Salt
Lake City, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, and the first Alaska Native elected to
Congress.

As ranked choice voting grows across the country, it is delivering on its
promises of representation. Candidates of color are running and winning in RCV
elections. Candidates are building majority coalitions through positive
campaigning, and consolidating – rather than splitting – the power of their
community. Voters of color are taking advantage of the opportunity to rank, and
don’t feel forced to vote for the “lesser of two evils.”

You can also read FairVote’sfirst report of the year, which coversNew York
City’s use of ranked choice voting in 2023. It finds that voter education ran
smoothly, New Yorkers are embracing the opportunity to rank candidates, and RCV
is quickly becoming a normal part of the city’s elections.


RCV is the fastest-growing nonpartisan election reform in the nation, and we
look forward to studying its continued impact on voters and candidates in years
to come!

Sincerely,
Deb Otis
FairVote Director of Research and Policy

PS: These are just the latest of many reports we’ve published about ranked
choice voting – covering topics from itsadoption in Australiato ahandy
compilationof voter opinions on RCV. Find all of our reportshere.

Donate Today Copyright © 2023 FairVote, All rights reserved.




Our mailing address is:

8484 Georgia Ave, Suite 240, Silver Spring, MD 20910




Want to change how you receive these emails?

You can unsubscribe from this list.