Mass. Voters May Get Ranked Choice Voting on the 2020 Ballot

Voter Choice Massachusetts is proposing a ballot initiative to implement ranked choice voting statewide. The group has filed language with the state attorney general ahead of Wednesday's deadline.

Independent Voter News was at the forefront of the historic passage of ranked choice voting in Maine in 2016 and then again in 2018 when it was used for the first time in statewide and non-presidential federal primary elections and US House and US Senate general elections. It decided one of the two US House races in the midterm election.

Quick recap: Under ranked choice voting, voters rank the candidates in order of preference. Then, if no candidate gets over 50% of the vote after the first vote, instant runoffs are held where the last place candidate is eliminated and their voters' next choice is added to the remaining candidates' totals. The process continues until a candidate wins majority support.

Inspired by the successful efforts in Maine, Voter Choice Mass. hopes Massachusetts will be the second state to pass RCV statewide. Their efforts have been focused on lobbying the legislature, but now they plan to have both the legislative and ballot measure option to get ranked choice voting passed.

Read More: Voter Choice Massachusetts made our list of 10 organizations to watch in 2020

Grassroots reform groups are also working in numerous other states and local municipalities to pass ranked choice voting, including New York City, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, and many other places