Ranked Choice Voting in 2019

To aid in the understanding of how ranked choice voting (RCV) is playing out in the field, this report examines the operation of RCV in the November 2019 elections. It provides basic statistics on voter behavior and error patterns, patterns in ballot usage for different racial and ethnic groups and socio-economic indicators, racially polarized voting, and vote-by-mail.

The report shows that most voters took up the opportunity to rank candidates, especially in heavily non-white, poorer, and less educated precincts, although a minority of voters ranked every candidate on the RCV ballot. Voter error was rare, and there is little evidence that error was concentrated among non-white or lower socio-economic status voters. Racially polarized voting was present in several RCV contests. Vote-by-mail voters made good use of RCV, ranking slightly more candidates and making fewer mistakes compared to polling place voters.