Under plurality voting, the candidate with the most votes wins even without a majority; ranked-choice voting (RCV) allows voters to rank candidates and reallocates votes from eliminated candidates until one receives more than 50 percent.
Maine became the first state to use RCV in federal elections in 2018, and Alaska adopted RCV for state and federal general elections beginning in 2022.
As of 2024, roughly 50 jurisdictions in the United States use ranked-choice voting for some elections, according to FairVote, while Florida, Tennessee, and several other states have passed laws banning its use.
Supporters argue RCV reduces strategic voting and incentivizes broader coalition-building; critics argue it is more complex, can increase ballot exhaustion, and slows the reporting of results.
Changing the method used for federal congressional elections would require action by individual states under Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, or federal legislation by Congress.