Elections Another Step for Ranked Choice Voting: New York City will use method for Mayor primary race

[Lead]

Last year, we had Maine implement for Federal statewide elections ranked choice voting. In July, we will see the largest population ranked choice voting election in the US with the New York Mayoral Primary race. Though Yang has been the main headline of that race, this hasn't gotten the amount I focus I think it deserves. The method is catching on with larger and larger populations/ races and this will be another large step in voters testing whether this is a better method in handling elections.

NYC Mayor Race: Ranked-Choice Ballot Explained, With Bagels
Wall Street Journal

When New Yorkers vote in the city’s primaries in June, it will be the city’s first major use of a balloting system called ranked-choice voting. The process lets voters list up to five candidates in order of preference, instead of picking just one candidate.

A candidate must get more than 50% support to win. If no one hits that threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated. The ousted candidate’s votes get redistributed to the voters’ second choices. That will continue until only two candidates remain.

Proponents say that the ranked-choice method gives voters a greater say in who gets elected and that it encourages candidates to appeal to a broad set of voters. But critics say that the system can be confusing.

Ranked-choice voting has grown in popularity and has expanded to dozens of U.S. cities and some statewide elections, according to FairVote, an organization that promotes ranked-choice voting. New York City’s primary will be the largest U.S. election to use ranked-choice voting, representing a major test for the method.

San Francisco and Oakland are two California cities that have been using ranked choice for years. In the 2018 special election for San Francisco mayor, London Breed was leading after the first round, but no candidate had the majority of votes. After additional rounds of tallying, Ms. Breed was named the winner.

Further Reading/ Listening
RadioLab Podcast about RCV (featuring Ireland's elections)
Info on current states/cities implementing the law

Previous Threads relating to RCV
Maine Will Be The First-Ever State To Use Ranked-Choice Voting For A Presidential Election
Gavin Newsom vetoes bill to allow ranked-choice voting throughout California

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

Imagine being everybody's number two choice and winning.

Eventually you'll see people putting the number 2 choice as their fourth choice... and then we all end up with third choice.

Sweet.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Sweet.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Imagine being everybody's number two choice and winning.

Eventually you'll see people putting the number 2 choice as their fourth choice... and then we all end up with third choice.

Sweet.

Haven't there been NASCAR drivers that have won the season without coming in first place in any of the races that season ?

I don't follow racing, but I think Mark Martin accomplished that feat .

 

[Lead]

I do find it funny this is the first time they do this and Yang happens to be on the ticket because he's the exact kinda candidate you'd likely see more often in these type of races. It's thought candidates would look to find more similarities with those they are running against and avoid too attacking as much rather than focusing on their own platform. I think the main con you could argue with that is candidates might be less direct about their platform and what differentiates them but looking at our current state of affairs, that already seems to happen.

 

[Lead]

Imagine being everybody's number two choice and winning.

Eventually you'll see people putting the number 2 choice as their fourth choice... and then we all end up with third choice.

Sweet.

Haven't there been NASCAR drivers that have won the season without coming in first place in any of the races that season ?

I don't follow racing, but I think Mark Martin accomplished that feat .

I don't think you were necessarily doing it but NASCAR race wouldn't be a great analogy here. RCV mainly just helps avoid a split vote between the most popular coalition just because multiple candidates entered that lane. If 70% generally agree with platform A and 30% agree with platform B, a candidate running on platform B shouldn't just win because 3-4 candidates decided to run on A and split the vote up of the majority. It prevents those outcomes. I can't say how often you would get a winner that wasn't originally first on the ballot though. There are other countries that do this so the data is there somewhere.

 

[Mark Hunts FIST]

Haven't there been NASCAR drivers that have won the season without coming in first place in any of the races that season ?

I don't follow racing, but I think Mark Martin accomplished that feat .

You're asking the wrong redneck, my friend

 

[JaviBrewski]

if i lived in the city id be voting for eric adams....damn shame

 

[Queen B]

if i lived in the city id be voting for eric adams....damn shame

Hes a fucking Republican shill who said he would bring gun to churches. Never trust a cop to be a politician

You know you fucked up as a Democrat when Tucker Carlson endorses you

 

[JaviBrewski]

Hes a fucking Republican shill who said he would bring gun to churches. Never trust a cop to be a politician

You know you fucked up as a Democrat when Tucker Carlson endorses you

I work in law enforcement......none of the other candidates even have my attention

 

[Queen B]

Imagine being everybody's number two choice and winning.

Eventually you'll see people putting the number 2 choice as their fourth choice... and then we all end up with third choice.

Sweet.

Thats the whole point.

When you #1 doesnt win, your #2 gets counted until there is a consensus.

 

[Queen B]

I work in law enforcement......none of the other candidates even have my attention

Hes been leading in the polls by far for a while now.

Ranked Choice might save us from "Mayor Adams"

 

[MoparOrNoCar]

Haven't there been NASCAR drivers that have won the season without coming in first place in any of the races that season ?

I don't follow racing, but I think Mark Martin accomplished that feat .

It hasn't happened in the cup series but it's happened in the lower series.

Mark Martin finished 2nd a handful of times but never won a championship.