Build Community Power Rank the Vote DC
Check out the ballot initiative to bring RCV and open primaries to DC.
Read the Ballot Initiative
The Problem - Our Broken System
1) Communities often split their vote & weaken their collective power.
2) Candidates can win with less than 50% of the vote.
The Solution - Ranked Voting
1) Diverse communities are free to vote in solidarity & build power together.
2) Candidates only win once they get a real majority.
Ranked Voting Supporters in DC
Christina Henderson
DC Councilmember, At-Large
"One of the first bills I want to introduce is ranked choice voting because I feel like incumbents need to step up and say this system is not working."
Markus Batchelor
DC State Board of Education Representative,
Ward 8 (former)
"Ranked voting changes the way you run for office. We need to be appealing to voters across the city & East of the River; encouraging candidates to reach out beyond their base."
Makia Green
Community Organizer at Working Families Party DC and Harriet's Wildest Dreams
"Politicians say: don’t hate the player, hate the game. Well we all hate the game. Ranked voting changes the game."
More DC community leaders who support Ranked Voting
Jeanné Lewis, Mysiki Valentine, Dexter Williams, Justin "Yaddiya" Johnson, NeeNee Tay, Kymone Freeman
Ranked Voting is already being used across the country
Ranked Voting elects more women and people of color
Women have won 48% of all municipal ranked choice elections
A 2020 study by RepresentWomen finds better overall electoral outcomes for women and people of color in jurisdictions that have implemented RCV. Over the last decade, women have won 48% of all municipal ranked choice elections. As of April 2020, nearly half of all mayors (46%) and 49% of all city council seats decided by RCV are held by women.
RepresentWomen. July 2020. In Ranked Choice Elections, Women WIN.
Increases in the probability of female candidates and female candidates of color winning office.
A 2018 paper by Sarah John, Haley Smith, and Elizabeth Zack shows that California cities which adopted RCV saw an increase in the percentage of candidates of color running for office, and increases in the probability of female candidates and female candidates of color winning office. (The author refers to the reform as “the alternative vote” or “AV” which is synonymous with ranked choice voting.)
John, S., Smith, H., & Zack, E. August 2018. The alternative vote: Do changes in single-member voting systems affect descriptive representation of women and minorities?
People of color hold office at a higher rate under RCV
A 2019 FairVote report on racial minority voting rights shows that people of color hold office at a higher rate under RCV than under the prior system, and that people of color win office more often since the adoption of RCV.
FairVote. November 2019. Ranked Choice Voting and Racial Minority Voting Rights.