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

I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
Time Square at night.
Why Do New York City Elections Look Like Such a Mess?
For the third time in history, New York City voters used ranked choice voting (RCV) to determine their party nominees in Tuesday’s citywide primary elections. First implemented in 2021, the system was used in that year’s highly competitive Democratic primary, where Eric Adams ultimately secured the nomination and went on to become mayor. It was used again in 2023 without incident....
24 Jun, 2025
-
10 min read

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read