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Writer's pictureReasearch Rose

D.C. Debates Whether To Switch To A Ranked-Choice Voting System

Updated: Nov 28, 2021

#RankedChoiceVoting has significant backing from a growing cohort of political scientists, who see the adoption of ranked-choice voting, or #RCV, in general elections as a means to moderate U.S. politics, while also diversifying its field of participants. It’s also appealing because it is practical: States and municipalities can implement RCV without constitutional reform or federal legislation. “Political polarization is one of the greatest threats to our system today, and replacing our current plurality voting with RCV will facilitate the emergence of third parties by eliminating wasted votes or strategic voting,” political theorist Francis Fukuyama told Politico in 2019.


Some say that the District’s at-large council races are a clear example of the sort of election that would be improved by ranked-choice voting. The field for these races is sometimes not winnowed down by a primary, since the city reserves two spots on its council for people who are not members of the majority party, generally independents. That, combined with the city’s relatively new public financing program that makes it more financially feasible for people to run for office, can leave voters with a huge list of choices from which they can only select two, under the current system.



© Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post - Pictured Above: Christina Henderson ran for office last year against 23 competitors. Now, she's leading the charge to transform the city's electoral system.
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