Just four Colorado cities use ranked-choice voting. Democratic lawmakers want to make it easier for

Just four Colorado cities use ranked-choice voting. Democratic lawmakers want to make it easier for others to adopt.


It’s a relatively rare way to vote in the United States, but a group of Democratic state lawmakers want to make it easier to use ranked-choice voting to elect leaders in Colorado cities.

Here’s how it works: instead of casting a vote for a single candidate, voters rank candidates in order of their preference. The votes are tallied based on each voter’s first choice, and if a candidate gets a majority, they win outright.

But if no candidate gets a majority, contenders with the fewest votes are eliminated in rounds, with their votes redistributed to the next highest-ranked candidate on voters’ ballots. That continues until one candidate receives a majority.

Proponents of ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, say the method gives voters more of a say, eliminates the need for expensive run-off elections and ensures a winner receives a majority of votes, proving their broad support.

Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2021/03/12/colorado-cities-ranked-choice-voting-easier-adopt/