Civic · 6 pages · 12 min
How ranked-choice counting works
Ranked-choice counting drops the last-place candidate and transfers those ballots until someone wins.
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From the opening
In ranked-choice voting of the instant-runoff kind, voters order candidates, and the count looks first at every ballot's top remaining choice. If no candidate has a majority of the continuing ballots, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots move to the next choice still in the race. The opening covers lowest candidate is eliminated, ballots move to the next rank, and only one live choice counts.
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Inside
- Lowest candidate is eliminated
- Ballots move to the next rank
- Only one live choice counts
- Early exits can skip a rival
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Instant-runoff voting
- Ranked-choice elimination and transfer