What is ranked-choice voting and where is it used?
RANKED-choice voting has entered the national spotlight thanks to the heat-up of the New York City mayoral race.
But New York City isn't the only place that uses this unique voting system.
What is ranked-choice voting and where is it used?
Here's how it works: Cities that have ranked-choice voting, such as New York City, determine the winner of an election based on preference.
This preference includes a voter putting down the first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on for the winner. Voters can prefer to choose one person to vote for if they want.
The candidate with 50 percent or more of the first-choice vote is the winner.
If a person does not receive 50 percent or more of the vote than the process will continue until someone has a majority.
In 2019, voters in New York voted for ranked-choice voting in a ballot measure.
Maine is another state that practices ranked-choice voting.
However, Maine goes one step further and actually uses ranked-choice voting in the presidential elections, as well.
Maine and Alaska are the only states in the union to use ranked-choice voting in the presidential elections.
However, larger municipalities, such as San Francisco, CA, and Cambridge, Massachusetts — and at least 20 other municipalities — participate in ranked-choice voting for municipal offices, such as for the mayor.
This practice is also done in countries like Australia and New Zealand for their national elections.
How do the NYC mayoral candidates feel about ranked-choice voting?
One of the NYC mayoral candidates approves of ranked-choice voting.
Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, believes ranked-choice voting is a great thing.
"It could help prevent evermore polarized election campaigns, increase the number of women and minority candidates running for office, and reduce negative campaigning," he said.
But despite Yang's support of the practice, not everyone in the United States is a fan of ranked-choice voting.
What do critics of ranked-choice voting say?
Ranked-choice voting critics say that it could make going to the polls more complicated for voters.
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“Our belief is that Maine voters do not know how to maximize their influence in ranked-choice elections by ranking all the candidates, which is compounded when political parties tell voters to rank only one candidate,” said Matthew Gagnon, CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, who is against ranked-choice voting.
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They also say it could make it easier for candidates to "game" the system.
Critics of ranked-choice voting also say that it will change the way American presidential candidates are voted into office.