Representation
Ranked Choice Voting and Representation
Different voting systems impact representation in government in terms of ideology, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, experiences, interests and other characteristics. This page explores research into how different groups are represented under RCV versus other American election systems.
Research shows that RCV improves representation for women, people of color, and other groups.
Representation for women and people of color
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Candidates of color gain more votes in the round-by-round counting process than White candidates, indicating consensus-building, according to a 2021 FairVote study. Additionally, candidates of color in RCV elections pay no penalty when competing against other candidates of the same racial or ethnic group.
- Ranked choice voting elections benefit candidates and voters of color, FairVote. (2021).
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The proportional version of RCV increased women’s representation in cities that used it in the early 20th century, according to a 2021 study. The study also shows that the single-winner version of RCV has been effective at increasing women’s representation in the 21st century.
- Election Reform and Women's Representation: Ranked Choice Voting in the U.S, by Cynthia Terrell, Courtney Lamendola, and Maura Reilly. (June 2021).
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Cities with RCV have better overall electoral outcomes for women and people of color, according to a 2020 study by RepresentWomen. Over the last decade, women have won 48% of all municipal ranked choice elections. As of April 2020, nearly half of all mayors (46%) and city council seats (49%) decided by RCV are held by women. By comparison, women comprise only 23% of mayors in non-RCV jurisdictions.
- In Ranked Choice Elections, Women WIN, by RepresentWomen July (2020).
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California cities that adopted RCV saw increases in the percentage of candidates of color running for office and in the probability of female candidates and female candidates of color winning office, according to a 2018 study. Learn more here.
- The alternative vote: Do changes in single-member voting systems affect descriptive representation of women and minorities?, by Sarah John, Haley Smith, and Elizabeth Zack. (August 2018).
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People of color hold office at a higher rate under RCV, according to a 2019 FairVote report on RCV in California cities.
- Ranked Choice Voting and Racial Minority Voting Rights, FairVote. November (2019).
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RCV voters in presidential primaries used rankings to identify the strongest presidential nominee while ensuring diverse representation at the national convention, according to a study on the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
- Ranked-Choice Voting Delivers Representation and Consensus in Presidential Primaries, by Baodong Liu, Nadia Mahallati, and Charles Turner. (April 2021).
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Candidates of color appear to earn lower support than White candidates in both plurality elections and RCV elections. A survey experiment from 2021 finds that RCV does not ameliorate that penalty, penalties were significantly lower for respondents who displayed a high level of understanding of RCV. Adding partisan labels to the candidates also significantly reduces the penalty.
- Ranking Candidates in Local Elections: Neither Panacea nor Catastrophe by Melody Crowder-Meyer, Shana Kushner-Gadarian, and Jessica Trounstine. February 2021.
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RCV benefited candidates from ethnic and political groups, according to a 2014 FairVote report. The reason: RCV’s low electoral threshold allows people of color to have representation based roughly on their share of the population.
- The Effect of Fair Representation Voting on 2013 Cambridge Municipal Elections, by Andrew Douglas. (February 2014).
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RCV increases descriptive representation for women, people of color, and women of color, according to a 2016 FairVote report. This is because RCV is often used to replace unrepresentative, low-turnout elections and that it allows multiple candidates appealing to the same community to run without splitting the vote.
- Ranked Choice Voting and Representation of Underrepresented Groups, by Sarah John, Haley Smith, and Elizabeth Zack. (July 2016).
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RCV does not decrease racially polarized voting, according to two studies (here and here). Racially polarized voting occurs when voters of different racial or ethnic groups vote distinctly from one another. These results are unsurprising because RCV tends to attract more diverse candidates, giving voters more opportunity to cast a vote for someone who represents their community.
- Does More Choice Lead to Reduced Racially Polarized Voting? Assessing the Impact of Ranked-Choice Voting in Mayoral Elections, by Jason McDaniel. (October 2018).
- Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? A Clustering Approach to Ranked Ballot Data, by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman. (April 2021).
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Proportional RCV, also known as single transferable vote or STV, tends to elect candidates of choice for people of color in proportion to their share of the population, according to a 2021 study. The authors note that proportional RCV will stably and reliably secure representation for people of color, whereas single-winner districts can have a wide range of performance and it is difficult to produce district maps that hold up over time with respect to voter turnout and residential shifts. These concerns are not present with proportional RCV, because proportionality is a structural property.
- Ranked Choice Voting and Minority Representation, by Gerdus Benade, Ruth Buck, Moon Duchin, Dara Gold, and Thomas Weighill. (February 2021).
Representation for political viewpoints
More than one-third (35%) of voters are Independents, yet they have little influence in government because it is difficult for Independent candidates to get elected under plurality voting rules. RCV can improve their representation at the state and federal levels of government, allowing supporters of Independent and third-party candidates to rank their preferred candidate first without “wasting” their votes or “spoiling” the election outcome.
The theory and scholarship behind how RCV (particularly the single-winner version) can otherwise impact ideological representation is mixed. At worst, the effect is neutral.
Related research:
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Independent and third-party candidates fare better under RCV elections, according to a 2021 study. However, respondents in a survey experiment reacted negatively to the idea of a come-from-behind victory in an RCV election while feeling no dissatisfaction with come-from-behind victories in two-round runoffs or non-majority winners in plurality elections. In actuality, non-majority winners in plurality elections can be a key driving force behind implementation of RCV, indicating voters are in fact dissatisfied with the status quo.
- Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock. (March 2021).
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RCV does not lead to more support for extreme candidates, according to a 2021 study. Ideologically extreme candidates are not viewed as more electable in RCV elections than in plurality elections, among both liberals and conservatives.
- Voters Evaluate Ideologically Extreme Candidates as Similarly Electable under Ranked Choice Voting and Plurality Voting, by Melissa Baker. (April 2021).
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A study of municipal RCV use in nine cities found that RCV had no apparent impact on ideological composition of city councils in those cities, and does not appear to change councilors' voting behavior. The study questions whether RCV will in fact improve ideological representation, but notes that it only considers progressive cities, and further research on other cities and statewide implementation will be informative.
- Electoral Institutions and Substantive Representation in Local Politics: The Effects of Ranked Choice Voting by Arjun Vishwanath. (July 2021).
Multi-winner RCV enables voters who live in districts dominated by an opposing party to gain representation. As long as the Democratic or Republican population is equal to or greater than the threshold needed to win, people who hold minority views can gain representation.
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RCV may also reduce legislative polarization by allowing space for moderate, conservative, liberal and other voters to elect candidates in proportion to their overall numbers in the electorate, according to a 2016 FairVote report. Evidence from Cambridge, Massachusetts, which uses multi-winner RCV, indicates that candidates and city councilors there are not highly polarized.
- Polarization and Multi-winner Ranked Choice Voting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, City Council Elections, by Sarah John and Brandon Leinz. (April 2016).
