At its essence, voters in a ranked choice contest can rank as many — or as few — candidates as they wish, rather than voting solely for one candidate. Once polls close, votes are counted, and a candidate wins only if they receive a majority of the vote. This differs from the current voting model in which candidates can win even if they don’t receive a majority of votes or a runoff ends up being required to determine the winner, an expensive, time-consuming process.

And if no candidate obtains a majority of votes initially, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and voters’ second choices are redistributed among the remaining field. This process repeats until either one candidate receives a majority of votes or two candidates remain.

Ranked choice voting is straightforward and gaining momentum. The results from the use of ranked choice voting suggest it could be crucial in transforming democracy for the better without creating new political parties......

Adopting ranked choice voting also leads to more diverse people running and holding positions of power. In places that use ranked choice voting, nearly half of all mayors and city council members are women. Further, in cities with ranked choice voting, more candidates of color run for office. By ensuring candidates — no matter their background — must reach as many voters as possible,

Ranked choice voting levels the playing field and fundamentally shifts the landscape of who runs for and ultimately wins elected office.

The combination of increased civility, engagement from campaigns and representation under a ranked choice voting model leads to the most important outcome: people turning out to vote. For instance, ranked choice voting in mayoral elections has led to a 10% average increase in turnout in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Young people are also more likely to vote where ranked choice voting is used.