What is ranked-choice voting? Here's which states will use it on 2024 ballots.

Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read

What if you could pick more than one candidate on the ballot in this upcoming election season? Around 11 million Americans already do in some elections, according to the Council for State Governments.

This number, from January 2023, is based on voters who live in counties or states that use ranked-choice voting. The system has grown over the past two decades with 53 or so cities using it today.

But how does ranked-choice voting work when it comes to federal, state and local elections? Here’s how it shakes out all over the country.

What is ranked-choice voting?

Ranked-choice voting is a voting system where voters rank candidates on their ballots. This means you vote for your first-choice candidate as well as your second, third, fourth choice and so on.

The most common form of ranked-choice voting is instant-runoff voting, according to Ballotpedia. Here’s how an instant-runoff voting system works:

  • Scenario one: One candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes and is declared the winner.

  • Scenario two: There is no majority winner. The candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated along with their first-preference votes. The counting restarts and moves the second-preference votes to first-preference. This process repeats until a candidate wins a majority.

Proponents of ranked-choice voting credit the system with increased voter turnout. Polled voters in Alaska who voted with a ranked-choice system said they felt their vote mattered more. By combining a primary with a runoff election, voter turnout can be substantially improved, according to an analysis by FairVote, a nonprofit advocate for ranked-choice voting. Those opposed to ranked-choice voting worry it'll complicate or breed mistrust in the voting process.

Ranked-choice voting has historically favored moderate candidates who appeal more broadly to voters.

Which states have ranked-choice voting?

Eighteen states allow ranked-choice voting in some capacity, according to Ballotpedia. Hawaii, Alaska and Maine use it in certain federal and statewide elections. Virginia’s state law allows for ranked-choice voting, but it’s not currently in use.

These states use ranked-choice voting in some localities:

  • California

  • Colorado

  • Delaware

  • Illinois

  • Maryland

  • Massachusetts

  • Michigan

  • Minnesota

  • New Mexico

  • New York

  • Oregon

  • Utah

  • Vermont

  • Washington

These states prohibit ranked-choice voting:

  • Florida

  • Idaho

  • Montana

  • South Dakota

  • Tennessee

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is ranked-choice voting? States using it in the 2024 election.