What states, cities and towns use ranked-choice voting?

Below is a partial list of significant uses or major campaigns to implement RCV in the United States.

State-Wide and NYC

New York City (pop. 8.4 million) is the largest RCV location in the United States. It was adopted 2019 for use in all city primary and special elections. It was used by 942,031 voters in the 2021 Democratic Primary for Mayor. That election featured about 10 major candidates and after eight rounds of counting the winner was Eric Adams.

Maine (pop. 1.4 million) Passed by voter referendum. In 2018, Maine used ranked choice in all state and federal primary elections, and in the general election for Congress. In 2020, Maine will expand RCV to the presidential general election. Maine has strong Independent and other parties, and a side effect is that in eight elections from 1986 to 2014, the average winner in the Maine governor's race had just 44% support, with three winners having less than 40%. Many believe RCV in Maine was a response to these frequent non-majority outcomes.

Alaska (pop. 736,000) A ballot measure that combined RCV and campaign finance reforms passed in 2020 by a vote of 50.5% to 49.5%. Alaska will use RCV in summer and fall 2022 primary and general elections.

Alaska adopted RCV for elections for US House and US Senate, state legislature, all statewide state offices for both primary and general elections. The ballot measure did not adopt RCV for Alaska's presidential primaries or for many local offices.

Missouri (pop. 6.1 million) and Nevada (pop. 3.1 million): RCV activists are organizing possible 2022 statewide referendums for open primaries and RCV general elections.

Cities and Towns - by State

California is a stronghold of RCV, especially the San Francisco/Oakland region.

San Francisco (pop. 883,000) Adopted in 2002 and used since 2004 to elect the mayor, city attorney, Board of Supervisors and five additional citywide offices.

Oakland (pop. 308,000) Adopted in 2006 and used since 2010 for a total of 18 city offices, including mayor and city council.

Berkeley (pop. 122,000) Adopted in 2004 and has been used since 2010 to elect the mayor, city council and city auditor.

San Leandro (pop. 90,000) Adopted as option in 2000 charter amendment and used since 2010 to elect the mayor and city council.

Palm Desert (pop. 53,000) Adopted January 2020 to be used for city council elections in November 2020 as part of a California Voting Rights Act settlement. One district elected in single winner elections, with the rest of the city electing in staggered two-winner multi winner elections (proportional).

Eureka (pop. 27,000) Adopted in 2020 for use in 2022.

Albany (pop. 20,000) Voters passed Measure BB in Nov. 2020 by a margin of 73% to 27%. The measure calls for RCV for city council and school board elections starting in Nov. 2022.

Colorado is a very active state for RCV. In 2021 the state legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that will facilitate the ability of county clerks to run RCV elections on behalf of related jurisdictions. Voters in Broomfield (pop. 68,000) and Boulder (pop. 108,000) recently passed referendums for local RCV use, but RCV elections have not yet been held.

Fort Collins (pop. 170,000) has an active campaign underway to place on the ballot and pass a voter referendum for local RCV in the fall of 2022.

Some smaller towns in Colorado have been holding RCV elections for many years.

Carbondale (pop. 6,900), Telluride, (pop. 2,500) and Basalt (pop. 4,100) all use RCV for mayoral races.

Portland, Maine (pop. 66,000) Adopted in 2010 and used since 2011 for electing mayor.

Takoma Park, Maryland (pop. 18,000) Used since 2007 in all elections for mayor and city council.

Cambridge, Massachusetts (pop. 119,000) Multi-winner RCV since the 1940s for nine- seat city council and the six-seat school board. At-large seats elected citywide.

Amherst (pop. 39,500) Adopted 2018. First used in 2021.

Easthampton (pop. 16,000) Adopted in 2019 for mayoral and all single-seat city council elections starting in 2021.

Eastpointe, Michigan (pop. 32,000) Adopted to resolve a federal Voting Rights Act lawsuit and used for two city council seats (at-large, proportional) in November 2019.

Minnesota is one of the most active RCV states. The area around Minneapolis/St. Paul has a cluster of RCV locations, much like the San Francisco/Oakland region in California.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (pop. 425,000) Adopted in 2006 and used since 2009, in elections for 22 city offices, including mayor and city council in single-winner elections, and some multi-winner park board seats.

St. Paul, Minnesota (pop. 308,000) Used since 2011 to elect the mayor and city council.

Bloomington (pop. 90,000) Adopted by voters in 2020 and used for the first time in 2021.

Minnetonka (pop. 54,00) Adopted by voters in 2020 and used for the first time in 2021.

St. Louis Park, Minnesota (pop. 49,000) Implemented in 2019 for mayor and city council races.

Las Cruces, New Mexico (pop. 103,000) Adopted by the city council in 2018 and used since 2019 for all municipal elections.

Santa Fe, New Mexico (pop. 85,000) Used since March 2018 for mayor, city council, and municipal judge.

Benton County, Oregon (pop. 92,000) RCV was adopted by voters in 2016 for general elections for county offices of sheriff and commissioner.

Salt Lake City (pop. 200,000) and 21 smaller cites and towns in Utah have recently implemented RCV for local elections, including city and town council seats.

For these city or town council seats, Utah uses a winner-take-all, sequential form of multi-winner RCV. Unlike the standard multi-winner RCV method, the Utah method does not "set aside" votes that went to a winning candidate. Instead, these votes are then fully counted towards that voter's subsequent choices. The effect is that a majority of 51% of the voters could elect 100% of the members of the council. If a city council had five seats, this method is approximately equivalent to giving every voter five votes in an at-large format.

Under a standard multi-winner RCV system (which is used by RCV123.org), ballots that support a winning candidate are "set aside" from further consideration of subsequent ranks. The result is more one of proportional representation. A city with three political coalitions of 60%, 20% and 20% would wind up with council seats representing very approximately 60%, 20%, and 20% of the seats on the council.

Virginia (pop. 8.5 million)

A bill to allow local jurisdictions to use RCV in elections for city council or county boards of supervisors became law in 20202. The state is completing the implementation process, and no locality has yet decided to use RCV. However, there are many jurisdictions considering RCV, and a variety of advocacy groups forming.

Washington is a major state for RCV activism. The Clark County (pop. 503,000) council voted 11-4 to place a referendum to use RCV for seven local offices on the fall 2022 ballot. Bills to permit the option for RCV in more local jurisdictions are frequently considered in the Washington legislature.

Burlington (pop. 45,000)

Residents of Burlington, VT passed a charter amendment referendum in March 2021 to use RCV to elect city council members. It passed 64% to 36%. State legislation became law in March 2022 that allows this local charter amendment to take effect.

Updated June 3, 2022

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