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.
Ranked choice voting is an electoral system in which voters rank the candidates on their ballots in order of preference. If a candidate receives a majority of first-preference votes, they win. If no candidate achieves a majority, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to the remaining candidates based on the second preferences of those voters. This process repeats until a candidate wins a majority.
Ranked choice voting somewhat levels the playing field for third-party and grassroots candidates who are often seen as having little chance of winning. RCV allows voters to eschew the practice of dismissing their first choice because they worry that the candidate has little to no chance and, therefore, might see doing so as “throwing their vote away.”
The party machines are not keen on RCV. Both Democrats and Republicans largely want to protect strongholds (which are often gerrymandered) so that the party, through its most prominent donors, can effectively control who gets which seats. They also want to keep a tight grip on the primary process and, when it comes down to it, would like to continue splitting the overall pie two ways so that, even when they lose, they retain a maximum amount of power and influence.
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.
Ironically, as it has continued to gain popularity, RCV itself has become one of these issues. I have been writing about the tyranny of one-party rule for over a decade. Whether it is Democrats in Massachusetts and California or Republicans in Florida and Texas, utter dominance by one party has routinely led to less democratic outcomes in which even members of the prevailing party express dissatisfaction with the disconnect between their ideological beliefs and their party’s behavior. Ranked Choice Voting would be the most effective way to shatter that dynamic.
Florida was moving toward RCV until the RPOF and Ron DeSantis stepped in. In 2022, DeSantis signed into law a bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature that prohibited "the use of ranked-choice voting to determine election or nomination to elective office" and voids "existing or future local ordinances authorizing the use of ranked-choice voting." At the time, Sarasota residents had approved RCV for local elections and were working on implementing it, while Clearwater residents were set to vote on its implementation when the law went into effect.
At this point, a ballot referendum amending the state constitution would likely be required to allow ranked-choice voting in the Sunshine State. Because Florida lawmakers changed the threshold for such measures to 60 percent, that would be an uphill battle, as most polls had RCV right around that level of support when DeSantis outlawed it. However, enthusiasm for RCV seems to be growing.
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.
Locally, I see rank-and-file Republican voters in Manatee County express deep disapproval of the Republican Party of Florida on an all too regular basis. Ranked Choice Voting is the best weapon available for voters to gain more control of the process and level the playing field with special interest groups. To learn more about ranked-choice voting in Florida or connect with other RCV supporters, visit Rank My Vote Florida.
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here.
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rayfusco68
Sadly Mitch you are correct, but the likelihood of either party allowing this change is little to none. The only chance this could possibly happen is if the ranks of the non-affiliated voters grew large enough to support this.
Sunday, January 19 Report this
Cat L
I'm 100% in favor of ranked choice voting. Also in favor of overturning citizens United....
Sunday, January 19 Report this
johnschussler
RCV is a great idea, but it only works when more than 2 candidates are running. Open primary elections are needed first to increase the number of candidates on the November ballot. Florida now has a closed primary system. Voters must join either the D or R political party to cast a meaningful vote in the primary election. Independent voters/ taxpayers pay for the primary election but can't select candidates. Florida needs an open primary election system where all voters can select candidates for the November election. Our one party state government will oppose that because it would challenge their control. A citizens ballot referendum will be needed to get open primary elections in Florida.
Sunday, January 19 Report this
N_Alice_Newlon
Here is an excellent League of Women Voters Manatee County presentation, Hot Topics - Ranked Choice Voting, . https://youtu.be/luTeTgQx-gA Ranked choice voting (RCV), also known as instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. How it works, advantages and issues involved and current status in Florida covered by Vilia Johnson, LWV Florida Speaker’s Bureau for Rank My Vote Florida, Anna Kellar, a Maine civic leader, spoke about the Maine RCV experience. Maine was the first state to implement RCV in 2018.
Sunday, January 19 Report this
docatari
Two party system has been rendered ineffective. Rich people threaten to get candidates; who don't toe the line, eliminated in "the primaries." One solution, that costs absolutely nothing, is to register as a Republican. That way we can help our citizen siblings moderate their extreme opinions and provide assistance for more moderate candidates. If you can't vote for a candidate, then the whole democratic election process is invalid or at least ineffective. Register Republican!! RINOs unite!!
Sunday, January 19 Report this
David Daniels
It may be too late for any chance of a ballot initiative passing. DeSantis and spineless legislature are set to meet for a special session Jan. 27th. The headline DeSantis wants is that the session is about immigration. But many suspect the real reason is to add additional hurdles to the ballot initiative process. Background checks for petition gatherers, or requiring that petition gatherers be US citizens, or raising filing fees and further restricting the time allowed to collect signatures - look for one or all of these proposals to be approved by our local "representatives" Boyd and Robinson. They keep voting against our interest and we keep re-electing them.
Sunday, January 19 Report this