Cara Brown McCormick
WASHINGTON, D.C. — US Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska), who was elected under Alaska’s ranked choice voting (RCV) system, and US Rep. Abraham Hamadeh (R-Arizona) are co-leading an effort to prohibit the use of RCV in federal elections.
According to a joint press release issued by Begich and Hamadeh, the proposed Preventing Ranked Choice Corruption Act aims to amend the Help America Vote Act by banning RCV for US House, Senate, and presidential elections.
“The nation does not need more uncertainty and confusion injected into the federal election process,” Begich said.
RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate secures a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed.
This elimination process continues with additional rounds of instant runoff as needed until a single candidate achieves a majority.
In November 2024, Begich beat Rep. Mary Peltola with 51.3% of the vote after RCV results were tabulated. Peltola finished with 155,763 votes, behind the 164,117 garnered by Begich.
Begich did not receive a majority of votes in the first round of counting. Begich won the lion’s share of secondary votes from Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, receiving 4,783 votes while Peltola received only 2,702 votes.
Alaska, Maine, and Hawaii currently use RCV for at least some congressional elections. Maine voters adopted RCV in 2016 and 2018 and first used it on June 12, 2018, for all US House and Senate general elections. Mainers also used RCV for president in 2020 and 2024.
Hawaii adopted RCV in 2022 for special federal elections, as part of a measure signed into law by its Governor
Alaska voters adopted Final Four Voting with Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in the 2020 general election, and the system was used statewide in 2022 and 2024. Voters in Alaska protected RCV from repeal in 2024.