WaPo Says Ranked Choice Voting 'Deserves to Pass,' Endorses Initiative 83

newspapers
Photo by Andrej Lišakov on Unsplash. Unsplash+ license obtained by IVN's editor.
Created: 07 Oct, 2024
3 min read

Photo Credit: Andrej Lišakov / Unsplash

 

The Washington Post Editorial Board has announced its support for ranked choice voting (which will be on the ballot in 4 states and the District of Columbia), encouraging DC residents in particular to support Initiative 83.

Initiative 83 opens the city's taxpayer-funded primary elections to more than 80,000 registered independent voters -- which would give them a voice in a stage of the elections process that decides nearly all District elections.

The measure also implements ranked choice voting for primary and general elections, meaning voters can rank candidates in order of preference and no candidate can win with less than a majority of the vote.

LEARN MORE: Initiative 83: Independents Could Make History with DC Election Reform

The Washington Post writes:

"Ranked-choice voting is particularly well suited to D.C. because it helps most in crowded primaries in which many candidates would otherwise splinter the vote drawn from a relatively small number of voters.  A ranked-choice system would better discern the preferences of everyone voting in that primary, making it likely that the winner is the same person who would prevail in a head-to-head matchup against any of the other candidates. "

The editorial board adds that this type of outcome is not often the case when a candidate wins a narrow plurality. If, for example, a candidate wins with 30% of the vote, that means 70% of voters cast a ballot for someone else. 

More Choice for San Diego

"When the victor must either win a majority up front or collect second, third and fourth preferences, the public is more likely to be assured the victor has wide-ranging support," the Washington Post writes.

RCV advocates argue that when voters can rank their ballot options it allows them to fully express their preferences in an election, even if they know their most preferred candidate has a slim chance of winning.

They can rank them as their top choice and still have a say in the final outcome. 

If no candidate gets over 50% of first choice selections, an instant runoff kicks in that eliminates the last place candidate and applies their voters' next choices to the RCV tabulation. This elimination process continues until a candidate has at least 50%+1 of the vote.

"Candidates must attract people’s second- and third-place votes, giving them strong incentive to make broad-based appeals and inducing more moderate, independent-minded candidates to run," the Washington Post writes.

Examples the paper gives are US Rep. Jared Golden winning in Maine's 2nd Congressional District. Golden's actions and record as a member of Congress point to him being a more moderate Democrat. 

In Alaska, the candidate who won the state's single, statewide congressional seat was the one who had a group of Democrats, a group of Republicans, and a group of independents supporting them.

ALSO READ: New Research: Populism A Key Factor with Cross-Partisan Support for Alaska's Top 4 Elections

More Choice for San Diego

Opponents of RCV argue that it is too complex for voters. For some, adjusting to a new system takes time, but there has been little evidence to suggest widespread voter confusion. 

For example, RCV opponents in Nevada, point to a University of Pennsylvania study that found in some jurisdictions where RCV is currently in use, 1 in 20 voters (5%) could end up making some kind of error on their ballot.

However, the claim that these represent ballot rejections is false, as the study found rejection rate to be -- at most -- half a percentage point.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post notes:

"The overwhelming majority of voters — as many as 90 percent in some jurisdictions — say they understand ranked-choice voting after doing it. Similarly substantial numbers in places such as New York; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Minneapolis have said they prefer the system to the alternative or would want to use it again."

The paper concludes: "Though ranked-choice voting is no panacea, even just a little more moderation, independence and civil campaigning could go a long way."

Ranked choice voting is currently used in 50 jurisdictions across the US, including 2 states, 3 counties and 45 cities. It is on the 2024 ballot in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington DC.

In this article

Related articles

Go vote posters.
Virginia Senate Advances Bill to Expand Ranked Choice Voting in Local Elections
RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia Senate approved a bill Monday that would expand the authority of local ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
2 min read
voting booths
Report Finds Ranked Choice Voting Is Working in Utah and Voters Like It
Editor's Note: This piece on FairVote's website. It has been republished on IVN with permission fro...
30 Jan, 2025
-
3 min read
3 i voted stickers
Washington State Reformers Testify in Favor of Pro-Ranked Choice Voting Bill
This morning, KIRO News Radio reporter Matt Markovich had ...
29 Jan, 2025
-
2 min read

Latest articles

A pair of feet standing at two vote signs.
Open Primaries President: Voters Don't Trust Reformers Right Now; We Need to Earn That Trust
The nonprofit reform group Open Primaries hosted its first Primary Buzz Discussion of 2025 last week. But this conversation worked differently as Open Primaries President John Opdycke was the one being interviewed....
06 Feb, 2025
-
2 min read
Crowd of people with an American flag in the center.
'It's The Economy, Stupid': Poll Spotlights Biggest Area of Common Ground among Voters
Over the last week, The Independent Center released the second and third installments to its 2025 State of the Union Poll, one of which compared and contrasted the views of independent voters and Republicans and the other compared independents and Democrats....
05 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
voters at the ballot box.
Advocates Push for Reform to Stop Partisan Manipulation of Ballot Measures
An Election Reformers Network (ERN) report covering a 13-year period has found that state lawmakers and elected officials are increasingly manipulating the ballot initiative process to block or impede citizen-led efforts. ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read