Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked choice voting can be tricky to understand, so we’ve simplified it with an example using food instead of candidates. This explanation will show how the system works, helping you cast your vote with confidence and make a decision that best reflects your values.

Ranked Choice Voting Simplified:

Let’s say you and your friends are trying to decide what to eat for dinner. The options are:



Instead of just picking one, you each rank them from your favorite to least favorite:



Now, everyone’s first-choice food is counted. If one food gets more than half the votes, that food wins! But if no food gets more than half, here’s what happens:

This keeps going—removing the food with the least votes and looking at everyone’s next choices—until one food has more than half the votes. That’s the winner!

So, maybe tacos weren’t everyone’s #1, but they might still win because lots of people had tacos as their #2 or #3. This voting system is a way to pick a food that most people are happy with!


Why is it better to rank all the candidates instead of just picking my favorite one?

In ranked choice voting, only listing one candidate limits the system's ability to reflect your full preferences. Here's why:





Ranking multiple candidates allows your preferences to be considered in every round, giving you more influence and ensuring your voice is heard throughout the voting process.

Below is the Ranked Choice Voting information page from Common Cause New Mexico, where you can further educate yourself on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).