The Independent View: Rank-Choice Voting in the U.S.

Ranked-choice voting is used on the municipal, state, and national level in governments around the world, as well as by non-governmental organizations and corporations.

United States Ranked-Choice voting as of November 2013

Arkansas Only overseas voters in runoffs, adopted in 2005 and first used 2006.

Alabama Only overseas voters, by agreement with a federal court, used in special election for U.S. House, 2013.

Berkeley, California Adopted in 2004 and first used 2010 for mayor, city council and other city offices.

Hendersonville, North Carolina Adopted and used as part of a pilot program in 2007, 2009 and 2011 for mayor and multi-seat variation for city council and under consideration for future elections.

Louisiana Only overseas and out-of-state military voters in federal and state runoffs, adopted and used since the 1990s.

Minneapolis, Minnesota Adopted in 2006 and first used in 2009 in elections for mayor, city council and several other city offices, including certain multi-seat elections.

Oakland, California Adopted in 2006 and first used in 2010 for a total of 18 city offices, including mayor and city council.

Portland, Maine: Adopted in 2010 and first used in 2011 (for electing mayor only).

San Francisco, California Adopted in 2002, first used in 2004 and used every November election since then for mayor, city attorney, Board of Supervisors and five additional citywide offices.

San Leandro, California Adopted as option in 2000 charter amendment and first used in 2010 and every two years since for mayor and city council.

South Carolina Only for overseas voters in federal and state primary runoffs, adopted and first used in 2006.

St. Paul, Minnesota Adopted in 2009, first used in 2011 and to be used every two years for mayor and city council.

Springfield, Illinois Only for overseas voters, adopted in 2007 and first used in 2011.

Takoma Park, Maryland Adopted in 2006 and first used in 2007, with elections every two years and with some special elections in between for mayor and city council.

Telluride, Colorado Adopted in 2008 and first used in 2011 for mayoral elections.

Upcoming Implementations

Memphis, TN Adopted 2008, scheduled for 2015 for electing city council and other offices.

Santa Fe, NM Adopted 2008, scheduled for 2016 for electing mayor city council.

Advisory, Option or Contingent Measure in the United States

Ferndale, Michigan Adopted in 2004.

Santa Clara County, California Adopted in 1998.

Sarasota, Florida Adopted in 2007.

Vancouver, Washington Adopted in 1999.

Pending Bills in 2015

Arizona Representative Juan Mendez (D-Tempe) has introduced HB 2268, to require that vote-counting equipment be able to handle ranked-choice voting.

Georgia Five Representatives have introduced HR 399, which would set up a legislative committee to study alternatives to old-fashioned runoff elections. The Resolution mentions instant runoff voting as something that would be studied.

New York State Senator Liz Krueger has introduced SB 2738, which would permit a pilot project for certain local governments to use instant runoff voting in 2019 and 2020, for elections for their local officers.