Voters in 14 cities and counties used ranked choice voting on Election Day
2025, showing how this reform delivers more choice and better campaigns. Donate
Today!


Dear John,

Voters in 14 cities and counties usedranked choice voting(RCV) on Election Day
2025, showing how this reform delivers more choice and better campaigns. At the
same time, other cities and states across the nation elected leaders without
majority support, or will ask voters to turn out again in the coming weeks for
costly runoff elections.

Read on for highlights on the below topics, or click on the links below for full
analysis:

* A successful ballot measure to bring RCV to Greenbelt, MD
* RCV elections in Fort Collins, Minneapolis, and St. Paul
* New York City’s toxic choose-one mayoral election
* California’s referendum on gerrymandering
* Runoffs, runoffs everywhere

GREENBELT, MD VOTERS APPROVE RCV
Greenbelt, MD residents voted to use ranked choice voting in local elections,
with 67% in favor! The City Council will make the final decision on whether to
adopt RCV – and voters have just sent a powerful message that they support the
change.

Michelle Whittaker, the executive director ofRanked Choice Voting Maryland,
shared that:

"Greenbelters took a big step forward for representative democracy. Voters will
have a stronger voice in electing candidates to the council, and communities
that have been underrepresented have the opportunity to have a seat at the
table."

Greenbelt isn’t the only Maryland city taking steps toward RCV. City councils in
Rockville and Annapolis, the state's capital, are also actively discussing
whether to adopt the reform.

RCV Maryland leaders and volunteers in Greenbelt
Learn more inthis post, and visitRanked Choice Voting Marylandto get involved in
the Old Line State.

CITIES SHOW HOW RANKED CHOICE VOTING MAKES ELECTIONS BETTER
Inthis post, we share analysis from RCV elections around the country yesterday.
Here are a few quick highlights:

Fort Collins, CO used RCV for the first time this year. RCV let voters rank
their favorite candidate first, and still weigh in between the two strongest
candidates; 7,693 Fort Collins voters ranked someone other than a finalist as
their first choice, but still had their vote count for one of the finalists with
RCV. (This number is likely to increase as more votes are counted.)

Ahead of the election, several mayoral candidates shared how RCV improved the
race, including winnerEmily Francis:

"Ranked choice voting is such a great opportunity for Fort Collins. It gets more
people involved in running for office... you have more choice."

Minnesota’s two largest cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, both had crowded,
competitive, record-turnout mayoral elections with RCV. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob
Frey faced 14 challenges in his successful bid for re-election. In St. Paul,
Kaohly Her will become the city's first woman and Hmong American mayor. Her will
lead a historic government as she serves alongside an all-women city council,
also elected with RCV.

Members of the St. Paul City Council (2023)

Because of RCV, voters in both cities were able to vote their conscience, and
rank backup choices in case their top choice couldn’t win. 93% of voters ranked
either Her or incumbent Melvin Carter on their ballot in St. Paul; in
Minneapolis, 94% of voters weighed in between Frey and his strongest opponent.

NEW YORK MAYORAL ELECTION DEFINED BY “SPOILER” ACCUSATIONS
Inthis post, we show a clear contrast between RCV elections and the New York
mayoral race, which used choose-one voting.

Debates werehighlynegative, and dominated by discussion of which candidate was
playing spoiler and who should drop out.

Election night reporting from the New York Times New York City should use RCV in
its general elections like it already does in primaries – letting voters decide
among a full array of candidates, and skipping the backroom dealmaking over who
should drop out. To support RCV in the Empire State, visitCommon Cause NYandRank
the Vote NYC.

CALIFORNIA VOTES FOR PROPOSITION 50
In the midst of a nationwide, tit-for-tat gerrymandering war, California voters
passedProposition 50 – changing the state’s congressional map toincreasethe
number of Democratic representatives. California is thefifth statethat has
redrawn its congressional maps for partisan gain in recent months, following
Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio.

This is a national problem that needs a national solution; until then, the
state-by-state race to the bottom will continue. The best way to end
gerrymandering would be a national shift to proportional representation with
multi-member districts, as included in the Fair Representation Act.

Learn more about Prop 50 and the Fair Representation Act in this post, and in
the video below.

WHERE ARE ELECTIONS HEADING TO RUNOFFS?
In this post,we offer a reminder that it’s still election season for voters all
across the country. Several cities and states will hold delayed runoffs in the
coming weeks and months because no candidate won a majority of the vote. Those
places include Albuquerque, NM; Jersey City, NJ; Santa Clara County, CA; Miami,
FL; and Texas’ 18th Congressional District.

Runoffs are supposed to ensure elected officials have majority support, but
turnout often plummets so much that they fail to meet that goal. A 2024FairVote
reporton federal primary runoffs found that runoff turnout falls by an average
of 40%. The report also found that:

"81% of candidates who won runoffs in 2024 received fewer votes in the runoff
than they did in the first round, essentially negating the runoff’s purpose."

RCV is a faster, cheaper, more effective way to promote majority rule.

From Minnesota to Colorado, RCV is having an impact on local elections and
delivering on its promises of more voter choice and better representation. To
help bring RCV to your community,join an RCV groupin your state today.

Sincerely,
Meredith Sumpter
FairVote President and CEO


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