THE STATUS OF RANKED-CHOICE VOTING NATIONWIDE
TRUMP OPPOSES RANKED CHOICE VOTING
Ranked-Choice Voting is a Disaster
It’s true. Everywhere ranked-choice voting has been tried, it’s been a disaster for election integrity.
Pushed almost exclusively by the Left as an alternative to America’s traditional “one person, one vote” system, ranked-choice voting is actually an alternative voting scam that leads to thousands of trashed ballots, widespread errors, delayed election results, and diminished voter confidence.
That’s why 10 states have banned ranked-choice voting in just the last two years—Florida, Tennessee, South Dakota, Idaho, and Montana. Only Maine and Alaska use it at the statewide level, where ranked-choice voting passed by slim margins through ballot initiatives that were heavily funded by special interests. Now, let’s dig deeper.
Ranked-Choice Voting Backlash
The Left is pushing ranked-choice voting across the country—but who really supports it? Backers include failed VP candidate Tim Walz, the Communist Party USA, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and AOC. Meanwhile, strong opposition is mounting. President Trump has called it “one of the greatest threats to democracy” and a “fraudulent joke.” The Republican National Committee agrees, and since 2022, seventeen states—including Florida, Iowa, and Tennessee—have banned the system altogether.
Despite outspending opponents $124 million to $3.4 million during the 2024 election cycle, ranked-choice voting initiatives were rejected by voters in six states.
Who’s behind the push? Left-leaning political operatives backing Progressive policies and candidates.
TRASHED BALLOTS
How does it happen?
- When no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of tabulation, some voters’ ballots must be trashed to force a majority. This is not a flaw in the system, it is the system.
- Rather than just voting for one candidate, voters must vote for (i.e., rank) all candidates to ensure that their ballots are counted and not trashed. This includes voting for candidates with whom a voter fundamentally disagrees.
- When a voter selects only one candidate on their ballot, either as their first choice or for all choices, and that candidate is no longer in contention, their ballots are thrown in the trash.
- Elections in Maine, Alaska, and New York City are examples of thousands of trashed ballots under ranked-choice voting. By throwing away these ballots, ranked-choice voting has erased their votes and left their voices unheard in the American democratic system.
Diminished Voter Confidence
Winners lose and losers win.
- In Maine’s 2018 Second Congressional District election, more than 8,000 ballots were thrown in the trash. Bruce Poliquin (R) received 46.33 percent of the vote ahead of Jared Golden’s (D) 45.58 percent. But since Poliquin didn’t receive 50 percent, there was a second round of tabulation. The secretary of state threw out more than 8,000 ballots and Golden was declared the winner—but with only 49.2 percent of the total ballots cast.
- In Alaska’s 2022 congressional special election, Republican candidates received 60 percent of the vote in the first round, but the Democrat won. Nearly 15,000 were trashed, and the Democrat won by a little more than 5,000 votes.
DELAYED ELECTION RESULTS
Multiple rounds of counting. Massive errors.
- Imagine waiting nearly an entire month to know the results of your party’s primary election? It happened in New York. What if an error in your school board election wasn’t found until two months later, changing the outcome entirely? Look no further than Alameda County, California.
A CONFUSING BALLOT. A FORCED "CHOICE."
GROWING OPPOSITION TO THIS PARTISAN SCHEME
- Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections:
Today I testified before the Michigan House Election Integrity Committee in favor of HB 4707, which would ban ranked-choice voting in the state.
— Jason Snead (@jasonwsnead) August 19, 2025
“RCV makes voting needlessly time-consuming and burdensome. Instead of selecting a single candidate, voters must rank multiple… pic.twitter.com/WyN3Eoh2L8
- Trent England, Founder of Save Our States, Co-chairman Stop RCV:
Ranked-choice voting is not the equivalent of a runoff.
— Trent England (@trentengland) May 19, 2025
In a runoff, voters know the choices and candidates can make their case in that context.
RCV eliminates the opportunity to learn more, reconsider, deliberate, and make an informed choice.
- WEST VIRGINIA SECRETARY OF STATE MAC WARNER:
- ARKANSAS STATE REP. MINDY MCALINDON:
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
STUDY OUR RESOURCES ON RANKED-CHOICE VOTING
- RESEARCH PAPER:
Ranked-Choice Voting: A Partisan Plot to Engineer Election Results
- ONE-PAGER:
The Truth About Ranked-Choice Voting
If NYC Elects A Far-Left Socialist, Blame Ranked-Choice Voting
OP-ED
New York City — the city that never sleeps — may be two weeks away from sleepwalking its way into advancing an open socialist in the mayoral Democrat primary. Voters would have ranked-choice voting to thank for the assist.
Zohran Mamdani, a New York state assembly member and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has promised everything from a rent freeze, free bus fare, and government-owned grocery stores. His socialist utopia would put the Empire State exodus on overdrive as productive taxpayers flee to lower-tax states.
Ranked-Choice Voting Is The Monster Under The Bed Of American Elections
By Shawn Fleetwood
Democrats are using ranked-choice voting (RCV) to benefit their party and disenfranchise voters in elections across the country, a new report provided to The Federalist found.
Published by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), the new analysis unearths how Democrats use the complexities associated with RCV to diminish confidence in elections among U.S. voters.
- commentary
NYC Shows States Why Ranked-Choice Voting Is a Liberal Disaster
The liberal ideas that start in New York City don’t stop there — even when they should. The latest proof is so-called “ranked-choice voting.” The Big Apple forced this undemocratic system on its residents in 2021, with painful consequences. Yet rather than learn from New York City and the handful of states with similar problems, liberal activists are demanding that every state implement this foolish idea.
READ MORE - commentary
How Winners are Losing in American Elections
The winners of RCV are partisans and special interests who use the system’s design to manipulate election outcomes and undermine states’ efforts to safeguard election integrity.
READ MORE - commentary
Maine Democrats are Rigging Elections Against Republicans
The insane election. That’s how I remember the 2021 race for the Charter Commission in Portland, Maine. The ballot asked voters to rank 10 candidates, from the one they liked most to the one they liked least — a system known as ranked-choice voting.
READ MORE - one-pager
The Truth About Ranked-Choice Voting
American elections are traditionally and almost universally run using the “one-person, one-vote” system. When voters cast their ballots, they pick a single candidate in each race, and the candidate with the highest number of votes wins.
READ MORE - one-pager
Ranked-Choice Voting: Opposition vs. Support
Our one-pager breaks down the dividing line between those who oppose and support the system known as ranked-choice voting.
READ MORE
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