How Texas Could Save Over $6 Million on Flawed Elections

texas flag
Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash
Published: 24 Feb, 2022
Updated: 18 Jun, 2025
3 min read

Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash

 

Early voting is underway in Texas for the March 1 primary. The results in both parties could advance candidates to an expensive, low-turnout primary runoff. However, ranked choice voting advocates say their reform could save taxpayers millions of dollars and produce the best results.

“The nation's first primary of 2022 dramatically demonstrates why ranked choice voting has become our nation's fastest growing reform,” said FairVote President and CEO Rob Richie. FairVote is a nonprofit organization that advocates for better elections. 

“Voters deserve a faster and cheaper outcome than a separate low-turnout runoff 12 weeks later. They want better elections than being limited to a single choice in a crowded field. Proven across the country, ranked choice voting means faster, cheaper and better elections."

Partisan primaries in Texas historically have been marred by low turnout, and the general rule is that whatever the primary turnout was, cut it in half and you can almost perfectly predict the runoff turnout. 

Thus, primary winners end up winning with a percentage of the electorate that falls in the single digits. This is how US Senator Ted Cruz won his seat in 2012. He lost the primary against then Lt. Governor David Dewhurst but garnered enough votes to force a runoff.  He then won the primary runoff with approximately 4% of the eligible voting population in a then deep red state that guaranteed him a general election win.

 

Taxpayers are also on the hook for millions of dollars to pay for these runoff elections (approximately $6 million added to the cost of the Republican and Democratic primaries) – money that could be saved with a voting method that ensures a majority winner when the most voters participate. This is where ranked choice voting comes in.

Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc.). First choices are then counted. If no candidate gets over 50% of first choice selections, an instant runoff is held that eliminates the last place candidate and applies their voters’ next choice to the results.

IVP Donate

The cycle repeats until a single candidate has over 50%. The idea is to show how voters would vote if additional rounds of runoff were needed without the added expense and decline in voter participation. Thus, it provides one solution to Texas’ flawed election system.

“Texas taxpayers are paying more money to make fewer people’s voices count. Ranked choice voting would solve the problem of expensive, low-turnout primary runoffs and a drawn-out campaign season,” said Harriet Wasserstrum, chair of Ranked Choice Voting for Texas. 

“With RCV, cities and counties will save money and Texans’ votes will count. Ranked choice voting has been proven to work across the country and it’s time to bring it to Texas.”

Texas primaries offer very little incentive for participation. All but one congressional district is considered safe for one party or the other. Without competition, voters (particularly voters outside the majority party) have little reason to think their vote will matter, and they stay home.

On top of ranked choice voting, nonpartisan primary reform could help bolster needed competition in the state. Having all candidates and voters participate on a single ballot, while also allowing voters to rank their choices, maximizes the incentive for candidates to appeal to a broader segment of the voting population. 

The more voters feel like their vote matters, the more incentive they have to vote. 

Related articles

Ranked Choice Voting Ballot and People
Beyond Ranked Choice Voting: How We Count The Votes Matters
Ranked choice voting keeps winning headlines. New York City uses it in primaries, Maine uses it stat...
24 Jul, 2025
-
5 min read
Vote sign with New York City skyline in the background.
Don’t Blame Mamdani for Closed Primaries in New York City
The NYC Charter Revision Commission (CRC) will hold its final meeting on July 21 to decide what reforms to city policy will appear on the November ballot. However, one proposal will not be on the commission’s docket – open primaries....
21 Jul, 2025
-
10 min read
vote here sign with people standing in line to vote.
Why Are Democrats in DC Failing to Implement an Initiative Passed by 73% of Voters?
Back in November, DC voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 83, a measure that called for semi-open primaries and ranked choice voting (RCV) in all city elections. The problem – the DC City Council has yet to fully fund it....
15 Jul, 2025
-
4 min read

Latest articles

Gas station weed signs next to Texas flag
Texas Senate Votes to Ban Gas Station Weed Again -- Will Abbott Go Along This Time?
AUSTIN, TX — The Texas Senate on August 1 passed a bill that would ban all intoxicating hemp-derived...
01 Aug, 2025
-
2 min read
House of Cards logo in front of Texas Capitol
Texas Redistricting Drama Turns into 'House of Cards' Episode
As Texas Republicans push forward with a controversial plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts, Democrats are weighing whether to deploy one of their most extreme forms of resistance: a quorum break....
31 Jul, 2025
-
4 min read
US Capitol Building with American Flags in front.
Five Seats, One Revolution: Independents Launch Political Disruptor
One week after hosting its inaugural event in DC, the founders of The Independent Center announced the formation of the Independent PAC, a hybrid political action committee designed to do one thing: deny the two major parties a majority in Congress....
31 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read