How Ranked Choice Voting Works in D.C.
- mgedelman
- 19 hours ago
- 7 min read
By: Miriam Edelman
DCNOW is pleased that later in 2026, D.C. will use ranked choice voting (RCV) in its elections for the first time. DCNOW’s blog has multiple pieces about RCV in the nation’s capital. This piece reviews some key points from DCNOW’s blog piece, entitled “Overview of Ranked Choice Voting (Ranked Choice Voting Part One),” before discussing how D.C.’s new RCV works.
Review of Ranked Choice Voting
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), also known as Alternative Vote, is a voting method by which voters rank candidates in the order of their preference. The format varies by jurisdiction, and the most common form is instant-runoff voting. In this type:
- If a candidate wins a majority (50 percent plus one) of #1-choice votes, he/she wins.
- If a candidate does not win such a majority (50 percent plus one), then the candidate with the fewest number of #1-choice votes is eliminated. In the second round of tallying voters, a voter for the eliminated candidate will have his/her #2 vote counted in the tally. A new tally indicates if any candidate won a majority (50 percent plus one) of the votes. The same procedure continues until a candidate has a majority (50 percent plus one) of the votes.
- Elects a candidate with a broad array of support.
- Saves money by eliminating potential runoff elections.
- Increases turnout by preventing potential runoff elections and by letting people vote #1 for their preferred candidate [Since that candidate might not be favored to win in normally-run non RCV-elections, members of the electorate might not want to vote that candidate. Since they also might oppose the leading candidate(s), they might not vote at all.].
- Reduces negative campaigning – Instead of candidates attacking each other, they try to get #2-choices of voters of their opponents. Candidates might also team up with each other, wanting their supporters to choose the other candidate of that team as their #2. For example, in 2021, New York City Council candidates Sara Lind and Jeffrey Omura announced such a partnership when running in an open-seat race to represent the Upper West Side. Presumably, they did it to avoid their splitting votes in their race against well-respected, then-Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Lind said, “Jeffrey and I hold similar values, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to work together to push a progressive agenda on the Upper West Side,” and Omura said, “Sara and I agree it’s time for a fresh start for our neighborhood, and I look forward to teaming up with her to ensure we usher in a renaissance for all.”
- Elects more women, members of racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community to office. – Under RCV, members of these traditionally-underrepresented groups may no longer be pressured to not run and may no longer be thought of as “spoilers.” More diverse elected officials could result in more inclusive public policies/laws.
Generally, RCV has positive results. According to FairVote, RCV results in winners having strong mandates, as the winner is in the top three choices of 73 percent of voters. Most (71 percent) of voters rank multiple candidates. Usually, voters like RCV better than their old way of voting. A 2021 study reported that youth turnout was higher in RCV cities than in non-RCV cities because RCV campaigns are more civil and have more contact by candidates with voters. Competitive RCV elections can increase turnout, as shown by the following: in 2018 in San Francisco, there was larger turnout in a special RCV mayoral election than in non-RCV primary elections further up the ballot. A 2021 FairVote study shows that compared to Caucasian voters, voters of color used more rankings in 2020. Ranked ballots yield more valid votes than typical ballots.
Ranked Choice Voting Prevents Elections of Candidates with Small Percentages
RCV prevents an all too common occurrence in D.C., a D.C. Councilmember winning consequential elections with a small percent of the vote and thus not a true mandate. This result is more common in open-seat elections, which do not include an incumbent running for reelection but which often consists of many candidates.
A recent example of a D.C. Councilmember winning with a small percent is Wendell Felder, who won the Democratic primary election for the open Ward 7 D.C. Council seat on June 4, 2024, with just 23.69 percent of the vote. The following graph shows the election’s results.
Felder won a slight plurality, the largest number of votes but not a majority of votes. In fact, the majority of voters opposed him (at least in terms of their first choice, which is the only choice that was made). Later that year, on November 5th, he won the general election with 92.78 percent of the vote. However, as D.C. is very Democratic, usually, the Democratic primary election winner then wins the general election.
It is unclear if Felder would have won the primary election under RCV. As he won the plurality, he would have won the first round. However, it is not known whether he would have gotten enough of lower-choices votes to ultimately win.
D.C.’s Ranked Choice Voting System
The D.C. Board of Elections (DCBOE) issued a “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)” guidance on RCV on https://www.dcboe.org/rcv. Key points from that website follow.
RCV is used in D.C. elections that have at least three candidates on the ballot for the following positions:
- Federal Government/Federal-Government Related:
o President and Vice President of the United States
o Delegate to the United States House of Representatives
o United States Senator (Shadow)
o United States Representative (Shadow)
- City Government/Sub-City Government:
o Mayor of the District of Columbia
o Attorney General
o Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia
o Members of the Council of the District of Columbia
o Members of the State Board of Education
o Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner
RCV is used in D.C.’s primary, general, and special elections.
How to Vote in Ranked Choice Voting Elections
When you vote in elections that have this electoral reform:
- You can rank up to five candidates, including write-in candidates, or “as many candidates as there are in the contest if fewer than five.”
- You do not have to rank all candidates. You are still able to vote for just your top candidate if you choose. However, if you do not rank more than one candidate, you would be losing your ability to affect the election if your preferred candidates does not win.
- If you rank candidates, do not:
o Assign the same ranking to more than one candidate.
o Give multiple rankings to the same candidate.
o Skip a ranking (i.e. – rank candidates only #1 and #4 – You would have to assign rankings #1, #2, #3, and #4.)
- You rank candidates by filling in the oval next to the candidates’ names under the number column.
DCBOE advises, “Ranking other candidates does not affect your first choice or decrease the odds of your first choice winning.”
As two candidates win At-Large D.C. Council (non-D.C. Council Chair) elections, voters should definitely rank at least two people in these elections. If voters rank only one person, they lose their influence in one of the two At-Large D.C. Council seats.
DCBOE has created online resources that help prepare voters to vote using RCV. Voters can practice on an interactive ballot on https://vr.dcboe.org/253434754272964. People can access a sample ballot from the “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)” guidance page.
On the sample ballot, “1st Choice,” “2nd Choice,” “3rd Choice,” “4th Choice,” and “5th Choice” appear. “1st Choice” is your preferred candidate, and “5th Choice” is the candidate whom you least prefer to win.
DCBOE created the following images to explain how RCV works in D.C.
Tabulation of Results/How Ranked Choice Voting Works
The following is DCBOE’s explanation of how results of all elections, except for general elections for at-large D.C. Council and presidential preference primary elections, are tabulated:
“All 1st choice candidate votes are tabulated.
If any candidate receives a majority of votes, they are declared the winner.
If no candidate reaches a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes from the eliminated candidate are then transferred to the voters’ 2nd choice candidates.
This process continues until a single candidate receives the majority of votes.”
The following is DCBOE’s explanation of how results of general elections for at-large D.C. Council are tabulated using the following:
“Each ballot counts as one vote for the highest-ranked candidate on that ballot.
Tabulation shall then proceed in rounds until a candidate receives a majority of votes or until there are two candidates remaining.
If there are more than two candidates with votes remaining, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the votes from the eliminated candidate are transferred to the ballot's next-ranked remaining active candidate.
This process continues until two candidates remain, and they will be declared winners.”
The following is DCBOE’s explanation of how results for presidential preference primary elections are tabulated using the following:
“Each ballot counts as one vote for the highest-ranked active candidate on that ballot. Tabulation shall proceed in rounds.
If the percentage of total votes cast for a candidate is above the party's threshold for receiving delegates, the candidate is declared the winner.
If there are active candidates whose percentage of the vote total is below the party's threshold for receiving delegates, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the ballot’s votes are then transferred to the ballot's next-ranked remaining active candidate.
This process continues until the required number of candidates remain, and they will be declared winners.
For this contest, a political party may also allocate delegates in accordance with its own party rules.”
According to DCBOE, “It is extremely unlikely that a ranked choice election will end in a tie. However, if there is a tie at any step of the process, it will be decided “by lot”, which means the Chairperson of the Board of Elections (or designee) will flip a coin.”
Final Thoughts
Don’t be worried about RCV. Every day, you rank your options. You may already have ranked schools on the My School DC application.
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