Frequently Asked Questions
Is preferential voting constitutional?
Preferential voting has been repeatedly upheld by conservative judges in state and federal courts, including by the Alaska Supreme Court and a Trump-appointed federal judge in Maine.
Does preferential voting satisfy the “one person, one vote” principle?
Courts have repeatedly rejected arguments that “preferential” or “ranked choice voting” violates the “one person, one vote principle.”
Can preferential voting work in government-run primaries?
Do voters understand preferential, or ranked choice, voting?
- 85% of Alaska voters reported that ranked choice voting was “simple” in their first RCV election.
- 81% of Utah voters said ranked choice voting was easy in their first RCV election.
- In 2022, a majority of Virginia primary voters who used ranked choice voting in congressional primaries reported that they prefer RCV to plurality elections.
Are voters required to rank every candidate?
Is preferential voting anti-party?
Alaska’s new election system – which replaced party primaries with an open “jungle” primary – is not what we’re proposing. Supporting preferential voting in party primaries doesn’t mean you have to support the Alaska model for elections.
Does ranked choice voting cause delays in election results?
Where results have been slower, it has been a choice by election administrators to allow time for absentee ballots to come in, which has nothing to do with RCV or the way the votes are counted.
Are ranked choice voting results transparent?
When desired, RCV results can be counted or verified through a hand count. The Virginia GOP used paper ballots for RCV contests in 2020, 2021, and 2022.