Preferential voting is coming to the U.S. Virgin Islands 2024 Republican presidential primary. The Virgin Islands Republican Party announced the decision in its recently published delegate selection plan.
Using preferential voting – also known as ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting – for primary contests is an enormous improvement for voters and the party. High-profile primary elections like the presidential race are often tightly-packed fields with dozens of candidates enjoying substantial support.
Under those conditions, it is nearly impossible for single-choice elections to produce a representative and decisive result. The candidate who receives a plurality of the votes could easily be opposed by a majority of the electorate — but win anyway because their opposition is divided between many alternatives. Voters, in response, often feel forced to coalesce around a single candidate opposing the frontrunner.
Single-choice primaries turn into a game of chicken for who will drop out of the race first. With preferential voting, primaries would instead be a true contest where voters come to a consensus about their party’s platform and vision.
Another benefit is that a candidate needs to gain support from a majority of the party to win. Voters who supported an unsuccessful candidate have their vote transferred to their next highest pick. The competition for second and third-choices changes the incentives for candidates. Rather than being able to win by appealing to a small, loyal, potentially radical faction, candidates need to build platforms that earn them broad support.
Preferential primaries strengthen nominees for the general election, too. Not only are more of their voters excited about the nominee, but candidates with broad appeal to the primary electorate are also more likely to enjoy broad support within the general electorate. We saw this on full display in Virginia in 2021: The Virginia Republican Party used ranked choice voting to select Glen Yougkin as its nominee for governor. Yougkin was the consensus candidate, bringing together the moderate and Trump wings of the party. Youngkin won the primary with 55% of the vote in the final round and became the first Republican to win a statewide election in Virginia since 2009.
For the sake of the party and the voters, let’s follow the example that Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands have set.