NEW REPORT: Ranked Choice Voting Benefits Candidates and Voters of Color

Dear John,

Ranked choice voting (RCV) has measurable positive impacts for voters and candidates of color, a new FairVote report finds. 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 previous surveys showing 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’s first report of the year, which covers New 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 its adoption in Australia to a handy compilation of voter opinions on RCV. Find all of our reports here.

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