Issues

With RCV, candidates have an incentive to appeal to more voters and try to earn their second and third-choice votes. This discourages candidates from using negative campaign tactics and bombarding voters with ads that only appeal to extreme factions and exclude or turn off potential voters. RCV will return our elections to a competition of ideas, instead of a race to the bottom, by encouraging candidates to build support among to a wider group of voters to win.

RCV encourages more candidates to run because voters are free to vote for their true choices instead of feeling pressure to vote strategically for incumbents or more well-known candidates. Many potential candidates never enter the race out of a fear that they may split the vote with other candidates of the same gender, race, or ethnicity. RCV would prevent this division by allowing voters more nuance than a simple “yes” or “no” vote. RCV also strengthens presidential nominees for general elections by ensuring candidates have support from a wider swath of the party.

In our current election system, candidates are more focused on convincing voters NOT to vote for an opponent rather than making the case for why they themselves are a better choice. Under RCV, however, voters don’t have to choose between voting for the candidate they really want and a candidate who is more favored to win. With RCV, voters no longer feel like they have to vote strategically and can instead comfortably back their true preference. 

Voters no longer have to throw their vote away on the candidate favored to win by pollsters and the media. With RCV, voters can back the candidate they truly want to win knowing their second choice will still matter if their first choice doesn’t get enough support. In the end, the winning candidate will carry the true support of the electorate.

Through RCV, military and overseas voters can ensure their votes aren’t wasted if the candidate they voted for drops out or isn’t viable by their state’s primary election day. In crowded primaries where candidates can drop out on a whim, RCV offers certainty that early votes matter. Votes for dropouts or nonviable candidates are redistributed to the voter’s next highest-ranked choice.

Under our current system, tens of thousands of wasted votes are cast on candidates who drop out or are no longer viable by primary day. These votes don’t count for anything. Under RCV, however, if a voter's first choice drops out or isn’t viable, their vote will be redistributed to the next highest-ranking candidate on their ballot. No matter what happens, each person’s vote matters with RCV.