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Noteworthy uses of ranked-choice voting in United States Elections

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A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. Ranked-choice voting was first used in an election in the United States in 1915, and has received renewed attention, particularly at the statewide level, since 2018.

As of November 2024, ranked-choice voting was used for regular statewide elections in two states, Alaska and Maine.[1][2] Hawaii also used ranked-choice voting for special congressional elections.[3] Fourteen other states used ranked-choice voting in some local elections, while 11 states had adopted laws banning or prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting statewide.

Below we include 11 noteworthy examples of ranked-choice voting elections in the United States beginning in 2018, ranging from statewide elections for congress, to local elections for city office. Included with each example are results, a brief summary of the election, and an explanation of how the use of this electoral system impacted the election.

See the elections below:

For more information on ranked-choice voting, including definitions of different types of ranked-choice voting and complete details on RCV's current use in the United States, see here.

Alaska, United States House of Representatives At-large election (2024)

Nicholas Begich (R) defeated incumbent Mary Peltola (D), Eric Hafner (D), and John Howe (Alaskan Independence Party) in the general election for Alaska's At-Large Congressional District on Nov. 5, 2024. Peltola was one of 15 incumbents who lost their re-election campaigns to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024. This was one of 19 seats that changed partisan control due to the 2024 U.S. House of Representatives elections. At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies. As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.

Peltola and Begich were the top two finishers in the top-four primary on August 20, 2024. Howe and Hafner were the fifth- and sixth-place finishers and advanced to the general election after Nancy Dahlstrom (R) and Matthew Salisbury (R) dropped out. Dahlstrom, the then-lieutenant governor, received 19.9% of the primary vote and had an endorsement from former President Donald Trump (R). In a statement announcing her withdrawal, Dahlstrom said she "entered this race because Alaskans deserve better representation than what we have received from Mary Peltola in Washington...At this time, the best thing I can do to see that goal realized is to withdraw my name from the general election ballot and end my campaign."[4]

On September 12, 2024, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled against the Democratic Party of Alaska in a suit it filed seeking Hafner's removal from the ballot. The party said that Hafner, who was serving a 20-year prison sentence and had never resided in Alaska, was ineligible to take office.[5] In the ruling, the court found that Hafner met the requirements to file as a candidate even if he had not met the requirements to take office, concluding that there was "no basis under Alaska law or otherwise to challenge a candidate preemptively under constitutional grounds."[6]

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for U.S. House Alaska At-large District

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Nicholas Begich in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 329,493
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Alaska, United States House of Representatives At-large special election (2022)

Mary Peltola (D) won the special election to fill Alaska's At-Large Congressional District in the U.S. House on August 16, 2022.[7] Sarah Palin (R) and Nicholas Begich (R) also ran. Al Gross (I) advanced from the June 11 top-four primary, but he withdrew from the race on June 20.[8]

Peltola won 40.2% of first-choice votes in the first round of tabulation, while Palin won 31.3% and Begich won 28.5%. Begich was eliminated after the first round and of the 53,810 ballots that had ranked him as their first choice, 15,467 went to Peltola, while 27,053 went to Palin. The remainder of those ballots were either exhausted (11,243), or overvotes (47), meaning voters assigned the same ranking to different candidates.[9] The vote transfer from Begich was enough for Peltola to win the election, securing a 51.5% majority after the second round of tabulation.

This was the first election for congressional office in Alaska to use ranked-choice voting after the state's voters passed Alaska Ballot Measure 2, Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting and Campaign Finance Laws Initiative in 2020. The ballot measure also implemented a top-four primary system in Alaska.[10]

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for U.S. House Alaska At-large District

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Mary Peltola in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 188,582
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates


Alaska, United States House of Representatives At-large election (2022)

In a rematch of the special election held earlier in 2022, incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola (D) defeated Sarah Palin (R), Nicholas Begich III (R) and Chris Bye (L) in the ranked-choice general election for Alaska's at-large congressional district on November 8, 2022.

After the first round of tabulation, 48.6% of voters ranked Peltola first, while 25.8% ranked Palin first, and 23.6% ranked Begich first. After the votes for fourth-place finisher Bye were redistributed among those voters' second choices, Peltola had received 49.2% of the vote. Of the ballots transferred after Begich was eliminated, Palin received 66.8% while Peltola received 11.6%. However, Peltola's share was enough to win the election, finishing with a 55% majority after the third round of tabulation.

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for U.S. House Alaska At-large District

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Mary Peltola in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 264,589
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Maine, United States House of Representatives District 2 election (2018)

State Rep. Jared Golden (D) defeated Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R), Tiffany Bond (I) and Will Hoar (I) in the November 6, 2018, ranked-choice general election to represent Maine's 2nd Congressional District.

Golden trailed incumbent Poliquin in first-choice votes, 45.6% to 46.3%, after the first round of tabulation. Both independent candidates were eliminated after the first round; Golden was transferred 44.5% of their ballots while Poliquin received 20.3% and the remaining portion of ballots were exhausted. Golden's share of first-choice votes after the second round of tabulation was 50.6%, overtaking Poliquin's first round advantage and winning the election. In the final round, 2.8% of ballots were exhausted and not counted for either remaining candidate.

This was the first general election in Maine for which ranked-choice voting was law, and this race was the first in U.S. history where the process was used to decide a congressional election.[11][12]

After the first round of tabulation in which he led, Poliquin sued the Maine secretary of state to stop tabulation of transferred votes.[13] Poliquin dropped the lawsuit in December 2018.[14]

To read more about ranked-choice voting in Maine, see here.

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for U.S. House Maine District 2

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jared Golden in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Total votes: 289,624
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Maine, United States House of Representatives District 2 election (2022)

Incumbent Rep. Jared Golden (D) defeated former Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R) and Tiffany Bond (I) in Maine's 2nd Congressional District on November 8, 2022.

Golden received 48.4% of first-choice votes after the first round, while Poliquin trailed with 44.7% of the vote. After Bond was eliminated, of the 21,655 ballots that ranked her first, 12,062 ranked Golden as their second choice, while 4,882 ranked Poliquin second. Golden finished the second round of tabulation with 53.1% of first-choice ballots, securing a majority and winning the election. A total of 5,104 ballots were exhausted in the final round, and not counted for either remaining candidate.

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for U.S. House Maine District 2

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jared Golden in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 316,382
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Mayoral election Democratic primary in New York, New York (2025)

Zohran Mamdani (D) defeated ten other candidates in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City on June 24, 2025. Mamdani received 56% of the vote in round 3 of ranked-choice voting to Andrew Cuomo's (D) 44%.[15]

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams (D) was first elected in 2021. He initially ran in the primaries for re-election, but he withdrew on April 3 to run as an independent.[16] He ultimately withdrew from the general election on September 28.[17]

Candidate endorsements became a factor, and City & State NY's Sahalie Donaldson, Annie McDonough, and Holly Pretsky wrote that as the race progressed, "Alliances [began] to solidify."[18] Former mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) endorsed Cuomo, and Columbia University professor Ester Fuchs said, "Bloomberg is the most critical and important endorsement for Cuomo in the primary. It’s a seal of approval for moderate voters who care about effectively governing the city."[19] Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) endorsed Mamdani, and City University of New York professor John Mollenkopf said the endorsement could "make some difference. And in this tight race, some difference is valuable."[20]

This was the third election in the city that used ranked-choice voting. The system allowed voters to rank up to five candidates, and if their first candidate was eliminated, their vote would be transferred to a different candidate. Voters could have picked only one candidate or ranked fewer than five. This system applied only to the primary election.[21]

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for Mayor of New York

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Zohran Mamdani in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,071,730
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Mayoral election Democratic primary in New York, New York (2021)

Eric Adams (D) defeated 12 other candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City on June 22, 2021.[22] The primary election was the first use of ranked-choice voting for a mayoral primary in the city's history.

After the first-round of tabulation, Adams won 30.8% of first-choice votes while three other candidates received more than 10% of first-choice votes in Maya Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, and Andrew Yang. Adams did not reach 40% of first-choice votes until round seven when 10 candidates had been eliminated. Three candidates remained in round seven: Adams, Wiley, and Garcia. Wiley was eliminate after the round, and of her 254,728 first-choice votes, 49,856 went to Adams while 130,384 went to Garcia. The share of transferred votes was sufficient to give Adams 50.5% of the vote, securing the nomination. In the final round, 14.9% of ballots were exhausted, or no longer countable in a tally as all of the candidates marked on the ballot are no longer in the contest.

In addition to the mayoral primaries, primary elections for 63 separate offices in New York City used ranked-choice for the first time in 2021. In all but three of these elections the candidate that won the most first-choice votes in the first round ultimately won the election.[23] In 21 of these primaries a candidate won a majority in the first round and the election.

Because New York City has a larger population than any of the states that used ranked-choice voting statewide at the time, this election made the city the largest electoral jurisdiction in the country to use ranked-choice voting.[24] New York City previously used a type of ranked-choice voting called single-transferable vote (STV) for city council elections between 1936-1947.[25]

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for Mayor of New York

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Eric Adams in round 8 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 942,031
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Mayoral election in Oakland, California (2025)

Barbara Lee won the election for Oakland Mayor, defeating eight other candidates in the April 15, 2025 nonpartisan special general election. Incumbent mayor Kevin Jenkins did not run for re-election.

After the first round of tabulation, Loren Taylor had the second most first-choice votes with 45%, trailing Barbara Lee who received 50% of first-choice votes in round one. Taylor continued trailing behind Lee, with no other candidate receiving over 1.6% of votes. Tyron Jordan maintained third-choice until his elimination in the eighth round. In the ninth and final round of tabulation, Lee captured 588 transfer votes, while Taylor received 378, giving Lee a 52.7% majority win.

Oakland first used ranked-choice voting for certain city elections in 2010.[26]

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for Mayor of Oakland

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Barbara Lee in round 9 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 94,305
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Mayoral election in Oakland, California (2022)

Sheng Thao won the election for Oakland Mayor, defeating nine other candidates in the November 8, 2022 ranked-choice election.

After the first round of tabulation, Thao had the second most first-choice votes with 31.8%, trailing Loren Taylor who received 33.1% of first-choice votes in round one. Thao's share of first-place votes did not surpass Taylor's until the eight round of tabulation when just three candidates remained. After that round, Thao had 44.2% of first-choice to Taylor's 42%. In the ninth and final round of tabulation, Taylor captured more of eliminated candidate Ignacio De La Fuente's transferred ballot's, but Thao's share was enough to win the election with a 50.3% majority. In the final round, 9.4% of ballots cast in the election were exhausted.

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for Mayor of Oakland

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Sheng Thao in round 9 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 125,522
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Mayoral election in Portland, Oregon (2024)

Keith Wilson defeated eighteen candidates in the nonpartisan election for mayor of Portland on November 5, 2024.[27] Wilson was one of five candidates—including Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps, Liv Osthus, and Carmen Rubio—who led in media attention, polls, and campaign finance. The Portland mayoral election was nonpartisan. Incumbent Ted Wheeler was affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Wilson led in each of the 20 rounds and secured a majority of the vote in the 20th round after the elimination of Gonzalez, the third-place candidate. Of Gonzalez's votes, 26,014 were transferred to Wilson and 14,255 were transferred to Rubio.

This was the first mayoral election in Portland to use ranked-choice voting. The new mayor would also oversee the transition to a new governmental structure. These changes were features of Measure 26-228, which Portland voters approved 58%-42% in November 2022.

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for Mayor of Portland

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Keith Wilson in round 20 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 309,963
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

District attorney election in San Francisco (2022)

Brooke Jenkins won the election for San Francisco District Attorney in a special election on November 8, 2022.

Jenkins received 45.8% of first-choice votes in the first round of tabulation, while John Hamasaki received 37.2%, Joe Alioto Veronese received 12.5%, and Maurice Chenier received 4.4%. Alioto Veronese was eliminated after the second round of tabulation and 12,197 ballots cast for him were transferred to Jenkins. That gave her 53.7% of first-choice ballots after the third round of tabulation. In the final round, a total of 3.85% of ballots cast were exhausted and not counted towards either candidate.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed initially appointed Jenkins to serve as interim San Francisco District Attorney after former District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled from office on June 7, 2022.[28]

San Francisco has used ranked-choice voting for certain city elections since 2004.[29]

The election results below initially show the results of the final round of tabulation. Click the drop down menu next to Select round to toggle between results for every round of ranked-choice tabulation for this election.

General election

General election for San Francisco District Attorney

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Brooke Jenkins in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 275,931
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Ranked-choice voting legislation

The table below lists bills related to ranked-choice voting introduced during (or carried over to) each state's regular legislative session this year. The following information is included for each bill:

  • State
  • Bill number
  • Official bill name or caption
  • Most recent action date
  • Legislative status
  • Sponsor party
  • Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by state and then by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

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See also

Select a state on the map below to read more about electoral systems in that state.

http://ballotpedia.org/Electoral_systems_in_STATE

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Department of the Secretary of State; Bureau of Corporations, , "Ranked-choice Voting (RCV)," accessed November 29, 2023. In Maine, all statewide primaries and federal elections use ranked-choice voting. Other statewide elections such as for governor or the legislature do not. This is because of a 2017 ruling by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court concluding that "the Maine Constitution requires the winners of those offices in a general election to be decided by a plurality. Primary elections in Maine and elections for federal offices are governed by statute and not by the Maine Constitution."
  2. ↑ State of Alaska, Division of Elections, "Election Information," accessed November 29, 2023. In Alaska, all statewide general elections, except retention elections for state supreme court, use ranked-choice voting.
  3. ↑ State of Hawaii, Office of Elections, "Voting in Hawaii," accessed November 29, 2023.
  4. ↑ KTVF, "Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom drops out of race for U.S. House," August 23, 2024
  5. ↑ Newsweek, "Democrat Serving 20 Years in Prison Can Run for Congress, Court Decides," September 13, 2024
  6. ↑ DocumentCloud, "Alaska Democratic Party v. Beecher," September 10, 2024
  7. ↑ New York Times, "Alaska At-Large Congressional District Special Election Results," accessed October 1, 2025
  8. ↑ Alaska Public Media, "Gross, a top four candidate for US House, calls it quits," June 20, 2022
  9. ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Terms and Definitions," accessed October 1, 2025
  10. ↑ R Street, "Evaluating the Effects of the Top-Four System in Alaska," accessed October 1, 2025
  11. ↑ Maine Secretary of State, "Resources for Ranked-choice Voting (RCV)," accessed October 2, 2025
  12. ↑ Maine Public, "Golden Wins Nation's First Ranked-Choice Voting Runoff For A Congressional Seat," November 15, 2018
  13. ↑ Politico, "GOP congressman sues to stop vote tabulation in undecided Maine race," November 13, 2018
  14. ↑ New York Times, "Maine Republican Drops Challenge to State’s New Vote System, Conceding House Race," December 24, 2018
  15. ↑ New York Times, "New York City Mayoral Primary Election Results," accessed October 2, 2025
  16. ↑ Politico, "Adams to skip New York City’s Democratic primary, run for reelection on nonpartisan line," April 3, 2025
  17. ↑ New York Times, "Eric Adams Abandons Re-election Bid for Mayor of New York City," September 28, 2025
  18. ↑ City & State New NY, "Here’s who’s running for New York City mayor in 2025," September 29, 2025
  19. ↑ New York Times, "Michael Bloomberg Endorses Andrew Cuomo for Mayor," June 10, 2025
  20. ↑ City & State NY, "How much will AOC’s endorsement help Zohran Mamdani?" June 6, 2025
  21. ↑ The City, "How Does Ranked Choice Voting Work in New York City?" March 23, 2023
  22. ↑ The New York Times, "New York Primary Election Results," June 22, 2021
  23. ↑ Politico, "New York’s first full ranked-choice election changed campaigns — if not the results," August 24, 2021
  24. ↑ National Public Radio, "Ranked-Choice Voting Gets A Prime-Time Shot Under New York City's Bright Lights," June 23, 2021
  25. ↑ FairVote, "Proportional Representation in New York City, 1936-1947," accessed October 1, 2025
  26. ↑ FairVote, "Final Results in Oakland's First RCV Election," December 16, 2010
  27. ↑ Oregon Public Broadcasting, "Keith Wilson will be Portland's next mayor," November 6, 2024
  28. ↑ City and council of San Francisco, "Mayor London Breed Announces Appointment of Brooke Jenkins to Serve as San Francisco District Attorney," July 7, 2022
  29. ↑ FairVote, "Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) comes to San Francisco," accessed October 1, 2025
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