Photo by Eduardo Ramos on Unsplash

Ranked choice voting is making inroads in Virginia. First, it was adopted and used in Arlington. Then, the Charlottesville City Council approved its use. Next door, Washington DC voters overwhelmingly said "Yes" to the reform in 2024.

Now, Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones has urged the expanded use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in Old Dominion, citing recent local election outcomes where winners were chosen without securing majority support.

"Richmond, Roanoke, Winchester, and Virginia Beach all elected mayors this year in wide-field races with a winner who earned less than half the votes," he wrote in an editorial published in The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.

Roanoke, for example, elected its mayor with 37% of the vote. "In my own four-way race for Mayor of Newport News in 2022, I won with 40% of the votes, which means nearly 60% of the voters supported someone else," Jones added.

In other words, someone who has benefited from the status quo is making the case that this should not be how elections work. Jones outlines how RCV could address what he describes as a "vote-splitting" problem that has led to less-than-ideal representation across the state.

"This is not a reflection of a mandate from the people," Jones said in the editorial. "It's a signal that we can do better."

RCV is a system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than choosing just one. If no candidate earns a majority of votes in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their voters' next choices are applied to the results.

This process continues until a candidate achieves a majority. The system, proponents argue, ensures that the winner has broader support because candidates are encouraged to reach out to more voters and build coalitions of support.

Jones believes this could lead to more constructive politics, especially in local elections where races can often be fractured by multiple candidates from similar political backgrounds.

A Growing Trend in Virginia and Beyond

RCV in Arlington County has largely been considered successful. The county held its first ranked choice elections in June 2023 during the Democratic primary for county board. Reports following the election show that voters found RCV to be simple, fair, and easy to use.

The county board unanimously voted in December 2023 to keep using the voting method in primary elections and then voted in February to use it for the November general election.

Charlottesville soon followed with RCV adoption in September.

RCV then got a significant win in Washington DC, where voters approved Initiative 83 this month to introduce RCV in all city elections, including primary elections that will now be open to registered independent voters.

While not a Virginia jurisdiction, its close proximity to the state helps bolster the case for RCV, while highlighting the growing demand for election reform.

“If we can use RCV to ensure that our City Council elections reflect the true will of the voters,” Jones said, “there’s no reason we shouldn’t apply it to all local offices, including mayoral races.”

Limitations of Current Virginia Law

Currently, city council and county board are the only elections that can use RCV under Virginia law. Jones would like to see the General Assembly expand the authority local jurisdictions have to implement its use in all elections.

He believes this expansion is critical in ensuring that Virginia’s elections reflect the full diversity of voter preferences and provide stronger mandates for elected officials.

“The people of Newport News deserve a system where the winner has the broadest possible support, not just the loudest or most narrowly-focused base,” Jones said. “I hope our leaders in Richmond will hear this call for change and work together to bring ranked choice voting to all local elections in Virginia.”

Editor's Note: A special thanks to Sally Hudson at Ranked Choice Virginia for bringing this story to IVN's attention.