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Dear John,

Since the polls closed on November 5, FairVote’s research team has been hard at
work analyzing how this year’s elections went, and how Americans feel about the
state of our politics. Today, we’re excited to share some of our latest
findings!

Read on to learn about how ranked choice voting is working in Alaska and
Portland, Oregon; our new polls on “lesser of two evils” and third-party voting;
the exorbitant cost of runoff elections; and the growing importance of
partisanship in election outcomes.

RANKED CHOICE VOTING MAKES ELECTIONS BETTER IN ALASKA AND PORTLAND
The 2024 elections in Alaska and Portland, Oregon are in the books, and ranked
choice voting was a major success in both.

In Alaska, 84% of voterssay that they found RCV simple, and many crossed party
lines in their rankings – showing how RCV empowers voters to look beyond party
lines at candidate quality. After the election, bipartisan majority coalitions
formed in both houses of the state legislature, putting the needs of Alaskans
above partisan interests.

In Portland, where RCV was being used for the first time, 91% of voters say they
understood how to fill out their ballot. Voters elected their most diverse and
representative government ever.

Winners in both Alaska and Portland had broad support, and voters used RCV when
it was offered to them – ranking second, third, and more candidates on the
ballot.

POLLS SHOW AMERICANS WANT MORE CHOICES IN ELECTIONS
Following the 2024 elections, FairVote commissioned two national polls on how
voters felt about their experience.

Thefirst poll, conducted by Citizen Data, finds 47% of American voters feel they
voted for the lesser of two evils in at least one election this year. Young
voters, Black voters, and Asian American voters were especially likely to say
they picked the lesser of two evils.

Thesecond poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners, surveyed voters who
supported third-party or independent candidates in the presidential election.
The poll found that 87% of those voters were aware of ranked choice voting, and
86% supported it. The poll also found that most of those voters preferred Donald
Trump over Kamala Harris.

Taken together, the polls highlight how voters’ preferences are more nuanced
than “red versus blue,” and point to the value of reforms like ranked choice
voting that can support a wider range of candidates on the ballot. With RCV, the
pressure to vote for the lesser of two evils is eliminated, and voters who rank
a long shot candidate first can have their vote count for a backup choice. At a
time whenalmost halfof Americans identify as politically independent, reforms
like RCV are especially important.

RUNOFFS PLAGUED BY HIGH COSTS AND LOW TURNOUT
Eight states hold runoff elections if no candidate wins a majority of votes in a
party primary. A newFairVote reportfinds that every 2024 federal primary runoff
had lower turnout than the first round, with turnout falling by a median of 63%.
81% of candidates who won runoffs received fewer votes in the runoff than they
did in the first round, effectively negating the runoff’s purpose.

We’ve seen similar problems in general election runoffs, too;Georgia’s runoffs
this month saw turnout decline by a whopping 92%!

With runoff elections, we pay more to get less – weeks more of toxic campaigning
and dramatically fewer voters actually heard at the polls. Ranked choice voting
is a better alternative, capturing the majority’s preferences in a single
election when turnout is highest.

Read our full report on runoffshere.

PARTISANSHIP RULES IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
FairVote’s Monopoly Politics projectpredicted the resultsof all 2024 U.S. House
races with 98% accuracy – two years in advance. At the same time, the
“incumbency advantage” has fallen to a record low – U.S. House incumbents
performed just 1.1 percentage points better than non-incumbents, controlling for
other factors.

These findings demonstrate just how much partisanship is the defining factor in
election outcomes, rather than local issues, candidate quality, or how campaigns
are run. When72% of Americanssay our country is no longer a good example of
democracy, this is much of what they’re talking about – candidates are elected
for their ability to box out opponents, rather than work together to make our
nation stronger.

The Fair Representation Act would end “Monopoly Politics” by instituting ranked
choice voting in multi-member U.S. House districts. Multiple Republicans,
Democrats, and third-party candidates would compete in each House race, giving
general election voters meaningful choices and forcing candidates to campaign on
more than just their party label.

Thank you for taking the time to read this far. Stay tuned for more from us in
2025 – including our U.S. House projections for the 2026 midterms!


Best,

Deb Otis
FairVote Director of Research of Policy

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