Ranked Choice Voting Act

The American people want a government that functions effectively and listens to the will of the people. Our current political system is broken when career politicians and political machines can manipulate districts for their own benefit, giving voters few choices and limiting new voices in government. When incumbents can win re-election without needing to really earn their seats, that’s not democracy.

We can level the playing field and advance representative democracy with the Ranked Choice Voting Act. Our current election system denies many people representation, since one person cannot represent the views of every voter district. This act ensures that majority rule prevails, minority voices are heard, and elected leaders are held accountable to the people. 

 

What Does the Ranked Choice Voting Act Do

This bill reforms our political system by introducing a national solution to address issues related to redistricting, representation, and voting rights. We need a solution that:

 

 

  • Empowers voters and ensures every voter has a meaningful impact on elections by giving voters the best chance of having their vote help elect someone who will represent their voice.

  • Ends the cycle of gerrymandering by repealing and replacing the 1967 mandate for single-winner districts with multi-winner districts elected using ranked choice voting.

  • Ends the disconnect between voting and election outcomes. Candidates favored by a majority of voters will win a majority of seats.

  • Breaks up one-party monopolies in every state -- districts would elect three, four or five members and no district would be controlled entirely by one political party or group.

  • Encourages more diverse representatives, including independents, third parties, urban Republicans, rural Democrats, Rockefeller Republicans, Reagan Democrats, and so on, who can serve as bridge-builders in Congress.

  • Fosters greater opportunities for the election of women and fairer representation for people of color.

  • Creates districts that are compact, contiguous, and continuous with political boundaries, and complies with the Constitution, Voting Rights Act, and other federal laws.

  • Replaces polarization with collaborative, all-partisan policymaking because nearly every representative would share a district with other representatives with different views.

What is Ranked Choice Voting?

Ranked choice voting is an election system used in communities across the United States for elections with more than two candidates. Instead of just picking one candidate, the voter gets to rank candidates in order of choice – first choice, second choice and so on.

When electing more than one Member in a multi-winner district, a majority of voters can always elect a majority of seats, but smaller groups can elect someone too. That means many more voters will help elect their first choice, and almost everyone will be able to elect a candidate they like.

It’s time to break up single-party monopolies on representation in our cities, suburbs, and rural communities. It's time for voters to have a strong voice in the political process. It’s time for fair representation.

Learn More 

  • Ranked Choice Voting
    Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice. Successful candidates able to combine strong first choice support with the ability to earn second and third choice support. It is used on the municipal, state and national level in the U.S. and in governments around the world.

  • Fair Representation Voting
    Fair representation voting describes American, candidate-based forms of voting in multi-seat districts that respect the principle of proportional representation.

  • Monopoly Politics and the Fair Voting Solution
    Monopoly Politics exposes the undemocratic and destructive nature of winner-take-all elections to elect "the people's house." Use the interactive map to learn more about our fair voting solution: a plan to combine existing congressional districts into a smaller number of multi-member "super districts," each electing between three and five Members by ranked choice voting. 

  • Representation2020
    Representation 2020 works to raise awareness of the under-representation of women in elected office, to strengthen coalitions that are supportive of measures to increase women's representation, and to highlight the often-overlooked structural barriers to achieving gender parity in American elections.