| Mitch Maley | The Bradenton Times |
Despite its broad, bi-partisan popularity, both the Democratic and Republican parties have fought tooth and nail to prevent municipalities from implementing ranked-choice voting. However, in today’s post-Citizens United political landscape, RCV might be the only thing that can restore a government of the people, for the people.
Voters turned out for RCV
As the United States continues to mint more billionaires who go on to control a greater portion of the nation’s overall wealth each and every year, almost exponentially, voters have become justifiably frustrated with their inability to influence policy through the democratic process. Even issues that enjoy broad partisan support—a public option for health insurance, a living minimum wage, less defense spending, etc.—are easily stifled by deep-pocketed special interests that enjoy far outsized influence over lawmakers.
As of 2022, RCV was being used in 62 jurisdictions throughout the United States. In 2024, Washington D.C. voters passed an RCV initiative with a whopping 73% of the vote. In Illinois, Oak Park passed RCV with 79% of the vote, and Peoria voters passed a resolution calling for statewide RCV with 67% of the vote. In Bloomington, Minnesota, voters defeated an effort to squash their recently implemented practice of ranked-choice voting. Residents of Alaska voted to continue using ranked choice voting and open primaries. In almost every case, voters turned out for RCV despite big-money PAC campaigns aimed at squashing the movement.