To learn more about marking a ranked choice ballot, click here.

EXAMPLE: ELECTING 3 SEATS WITH RANKED CHOICE VOTING

In this example, there will be 3 winners. In order to be declared a winner, a candidate must receive the threshold (25%) plus one vote.

Candidate A wins in the first round of counting because he/she received more than 25% of the votes cast. Since ranked-choice voting is designed to waste as few votes as possible, the surplus votes for Candidate A beyond the 25% needed to win will count for those voters' next choice. Since Candidate A received seven votes beyond the winning threshold, those seven will count for those voters' second choice, adding three votes to Candidate C, two votes to Candidate D, and two votes to Candidate E.

Candidate D has the lowest number of votes and is eliminated. The eight votes Candidate D received will now count for voters' next choice, pushing Candidate B over the threshold to be elected. One vote for Candidate B is beyond what is necessary to win and is therefore counted for the voter's next choice. Candidate B is declared a winner along with Candidate A, and we have one seat left to elect among the remaining candidates.

The one surplus vote from Candidate B counts for the voter's next choice, putting Candidate C over the threshold to be elected (25% +1), making Candidate C the 3rd and final winner.

For a comparison of single-winner and multi-winner ranked choice voting, download our brief report laying out the benefits and best uses of each method. 

Single-Winner RCV v. Multi-Winner RCV

MULTI-WINNER RANKED CHOICE VOTING IN-DEPTH

While the example above is a simplified example to show how multi-winner ranked choice voting works, we have left out some details of how votes are counted in places that use this system in the United States. If you’d like to learn more about the details of those methods, visit the examples below which explain how ranked choice voting is conducted in Cambridge, MA and Minneapolis, MN. You can also watch our webinar on multi-winner ranked choice voting, which covers its history, where it's been used in the United States, how the various tabulation methods work, and how to administer the method. 

In Practice: Cambridge, MA

In Practice: Minneapolis, MN