The Potential Impact of Ranked Choice Voting in Washington State

The Potential Impact of Ranked Choice Voting in Washington State

If you are like me, you are ready for this year's election to be over with so we can all move on. I normally don't get political because I was taught as a kid that religion and politics aren't discussed at the dinner table.

Times have changed and now it seems like you can't escape politics and everyone has an opinion.

In Idaho on their ballot is Prop 1 which is trying to convert their primaries to be more inclusive beyond just the two major political parties.

It's called Ranked Choice Voting.

Get our free mobile app

I'm surprised that Washington State hasn't done something like this so I did a little digging on the matter and here's what I found:

Ranked choice voting is a system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than casting their vote for a single candidate.

If no candidate wins an outright majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who selected the eliminated candidate as their top choice have their votes redistributed to their next preference.

This process continues until one candidate achieves a majority. Advocates claim that RCV encourages more positive campaigns and reduces negative advertising since candidates aim to be palatable not just as first choices but as second or third preferences as well.

Washington State could benefit from this shift towards civility in campaigning. Given its diverse political spectrum—ranging from urban centers like Seattle with progressive leanings to rural areas with more conservative viewpoints—ranked choice voting could help bridge these divides by compelling candidates to appeal across broader demographics.

However, implementing ranked choice voting does come with challenges.

Critics argue that it can be confusing for voters unfamiliar with ranking systems and may lead to increased ballot errors or spoilage if instructions are not clear.

Transitioning to RCV requires significant changes in election infrastructure—from updating voting machines capable of processing ranked ballots to training election officials—which demands financial investment and logistical planning.

Ranked Voting has already been implemented in Maine and Alaska and places like San Francisco and we'll see if Prop 1 will make a difference in Idaho after the election but what do you think of the idea of ranked voting in Washington State?

Let me know in the comments below and on our App, I'm curious about what you think about ranked choice voting.