In a highly competitive election that brought over 8 thousand voters to the polls, students at UCLA used ranked choice voting (RCV) to elect student government officials last week. With 30 candidates vying for 13 offices, these elections showed that ranked choice voting can help students to elect officers that represent a broad range of voices in a large and diverse community.

Earlier this year Oregon State University decided to switch to ranked choice voting in hopes to boost turnout, increase participation, and ensure the winning candidate has support from a broad base of voters. The result was a doubling of voter turnout in comparison to last year's general election, more inclusive campaigns, and a widely supported president-elect. It's clear Oregon State reached, and even surpassed, its goals for RCV.

India and Indonesia both held major elections this month. One country uses winner-take-all, the other proportional representation. That choice makes a difference.

Humboldt State University adopted ranked choice voting for student elections in 2013. Last week ranked choice voting was used for the first time to elect a new student body president.

With the release of its interim report on February 24th, the task force has set ambitious goals for the county’s elections, including adopting automatic voter registration, preventing partisan redistricting, improving civic outreach, bolstering voter turnout, and expanding civic education programs. The group has also announced plans to explore expanded suffrage for youths and people with felony convictions, ways to reduce wait times at the polls, and more inclusive ballot access laws.

Georgetown elected its GUSA president using ranked choice voting last week, a system the school has used since 2006.