81
votes
What arguments are there against ranked-choice voting?
This problem can be solved by a system called ranked-choice voting, aka instant-runoff voting
First off, there are multiple voting systems based on ranking your choices. The system you're describing ...
57
votes
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
There's three main reasons:
It's simple. Voters are giving instructions, "I want this candidate, and if I can't have them, I want this one instead, .... n." Voters understand how their vote ...
40
votes
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
This type of ranked-choice voting is effectively like doing a bunch of run-off elections all at once. In other words, assuming there are five candidates (A, B, C, D, and E), we could do the following:
...
37
votes
How will New York City physically implement the ranked choice voting algorithm with thousands of unique mayoral votings possible?
How ranked choice voting ballots can be counted by hand
I think the counting can be done by hand (using several 'passes' if necessary). For example, in Canada, according to CBC.ca (on ranked voting in ...

JJJ♦
- 38.9k
21
votes
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
It's mathematically sound. It may seem as if checking the second-place votes of other "losing" candidates besides the last might give different winners, but it won't.
You're thinking we ...
20
votes
How will New York City physically implement the ranked choice voting algorithm with thousands of unique mayoral votings possible?
New York City did tabulate some ranked choice ballots by hand in special elections earlier this year, where the number of ballots and candidates was comparatively small and hand counting was more ...
16
votes
What arguments are there against ranked-choice voting?
Trump
And if the Republican primaries had used ranked-choice voting, Trump wouldn't have won the nomination, since a majority of the electorate was against him, it's just that the anti-Trump vote ...
13
votes
Accepted
Who is the Condorcet winner of NYC's 2021 mayoral Democratic primary?
The New York City Board of Elections released the cast vote record (CVR) on August 18th. There's no metadata or readme accompanying it, but Alec Barrett has published an 'unofficial' readme on GitHub.
...

CDJB♦
- 105k
12
votes
How will New York City physically implement the ranked choice voting algorithm with thousands of unique mayoral votings possible?
I think you're misunderstanding how the ranked choice voting works. If, as was the case, no candidate crosses 50% of the vote, the last-place candidate is eliminated. Their ballots are now all ...
11
votes
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
What's the rationale for giving that group disproportionate power in choosing the winning candidate?
There is no rationale, because RCV was never designed to give voters equal power.
Ranked Choice ...
11
votes
Accepted
Did the 2022 Alaska congressional special election have a Condorcet winner, who was not elected?
Yes.
Based on the official cast vote records for the special election, Begich would have beaten Peltola head to head 52-48, and beaten Palin 61-39. However, he had fewer 1st choice rankings than the ...
9
votes
Difference between RCV and STV
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a superset of many different election systems, with Single Transferable Vote (STV) being one of them. So every STV election is a RCV election, but not every RCV election ...
9
votes
Who is the Condorcet winner of NYC's 2021 mayoral Democratic primary?
A Condorcet winner is not guaranteed to exist since preferences might be cyclical (e.g., A > B, B > C, C > A).
To find the Condorcet winner, you would need to observe the individual ballots. ...
5
votes
Accepted
Ranked choice voting: Can a candidate who got dropped in early round come back in later rounds?
It depends on the counting method used.
In "instant run-off" voting, Ed is eliminated, and so the 17 votes that place Ed second would need to be redistributed to their third choice.
However ...
5
votes
How will New York City physically implement the ranked choice voting algorithm with thousands of unique mayoral votings possible?
I'm curious how New York City will physically and computationally implement ranked-choice vote counting.
Physically, voters received a tabular ballot (see this NYC government page)
where rows are ...
4
votes
Accepted
New York's ranked choice voting, dealing with "a tie at the bottom"
This is a bit tricky; Section 1057-g of the New York City Charter contains the following provision:
e. For all ranked choice elections, the following tabulation
procedures apply:
If a candidate ...

CDJB♦
- 105k
4
votes
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
Suppose people are voting on what topping they want on a pizza. Alice ranks the toppings [pepperoni, pineapple, olives, onions, anchovies]. Bob ranks them [anchovies, pepperoni, onions, olives, ...
3
votes
What is the significance of the non-dictatorship principle in Arrow's theorem, and does this example fit the definition of a dictator?
The key word here is always. In your hypothetical example, let's say that the votes occur in succession, and the same person is always the 51st voter. Can this person always determine the group ...
3
votes
What arguments are there against ranked-choice voting?
A. Big part of an election IS to show a mandate for the winner. To show a mandate, you need to have popularity. Or "absolute preference" for a candidate - " I like candidate XYZ too win".
Ranked ...
2
votes
What arguments are there against ranked-choice voting?
Ranked choice voting would increase the amount of time it takes to determine the winner of elections.
Elections in the US are already painfully slow - the very act of taking weeks to determine a ...
2
votes
Is there a ranked voting variant that prevents vote selling and identification?
Yes, I see the problem and I think it is special for ranked voting because only then the number of possible unique ways to vote can be much, much larger than the number of voters and so make a ...
2
votes
Would ranked choice voting force single issue voters to vote for more than one candidate or not be counted?
Since New Jersey current uses a plurality voting/first past the post voting system for the office of US Senator, then the question of how a ranked choice voting/instant runoff tabulated election would ...
2
votes
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
Those voting for the least popular first-choice candidate don't have more power than anyone else. After that candidate gets eliminated, it's exactly as if that candidate wasn't in the election at all (...
2
votes
What is the significance of the non-dictatorship principle in Arrow's theorem, and does this example fit the definition of a dictator?
Here is an explanation of the dictator principle in very simple words.
Arrow's theorem says there can be no voting system such that properties a), b) and c) are all satisfied at the same time. But a ...
2
votes
What is the significance of the non-dictatorship principle in Arrow's theorem, and does this example fit the definition of a dictator?
Based on your comments, I think you are getting confused by preconceptions and have missed the point of the proof. It's not really about defining the concept of a dictator in an unconventional way, or ...
2
votes
Did the 2022 Alaska congressional special election have a Condorcet winner, who was not elected?
TL;DR: It's possible that Begich was the Condorcet winner (with an overall Condorcet ranking of Begich > Peltola > Palin), but we can't know for sure without knowing everyone's second choices.
...
2
votes
Why did Alaska introduce ranked voting for the general election but not for the primary?
Q: Why did Alaska introduce ranked voting for the general election but not for the primary?
Q: But... why didn't they also introduce ranked voting for the primary? It seems like that it would be just ...
1
vote
Would ranked choice voting force single issue voters to vote for more than one candidate or not be counted?
To answer "Would ranked choice voting force single issue voters to vote for more than one candidate or not be counted?"
If enough people have you as number 1 you win. In the case where you ...
1
vote
Ranked choice voting: Can a candidate who got dropped in early round come back in later rounds?
No, and this is the fundamental flaw in the instant runoff tabulation method that's promoted so heavily in the US.
Advocates claim that it makes it safe to list your honest favorite as your first ...
1
vote
Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?
The reason is that those who support the least-favoured candidate are effectively disenfranchised under single-vote system, unless they vote strategically. It's not that they are suddenly given ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
Related Tags
ranked-choice-voting × 12voting-systems × 11
united-states × 4
voting × 4
new-york-city × 3
alaska × 2
election × 1
contested-election × 1
dictatorship × 1
first-past-the-post × 1
single-transferable-vote × 1