RCV looked like a fix. Put your candidates in order, the spoiler effect disappears, everyone walks away happier. That was the pitch, anyway.
Turns out a lot of voters aren't convinced. Campaigns branded "Yes End RCV" have been popping up in states and cities that adopted the system, and they're gaining traction. Not because people hate elections. Because people can't stand not understanding the process https://www.yesendrcv.com/.
Here's the thing about ranked choice voting: it asks a lot of the average voter. Rank five, six, sometimes ten candidates in order of preference? The average voter show up to vote for a single candidate. Perhaps two, at most, if there's a tight primary. Expecting your grandmother to rank a school board race like she's drafting a fantasy football roster is a big lift.
Then there's the counting. RCV elections can take days to resolve. Anchorage is a prime example. Ballots get shuffled through multiple rounds of elimination, and by round four, nobody watching the results feed has any clue what's happening. Transparency takes a hit when the process itself feels like a magic trick.
Money is a factor as well. New voting machines, training for poll workers, voter education campaigns explaining a system half the electorate has never used — all of it costs money. Small counties especially feel the squeeze.
Those in favor of ranked choice voting will argue it reduces negative campaigning and encourages candidates to build wider coalitions. Fair point. Candidates chasing those second-place rankings have less incentive to trash their opponents outright. That's a real upside, and it's worth acknowledging even if you're unconvinced by RCV overall.
But the "Yes End RCV" crowd argue the trade-off isn't worth it. Simpler ballots. Faster results. Fewer invalid ballots from people who made a mistake ranking their choices. They point to exhausted ballots — votes that get tossed because a voter didn't rank enough candidates — as evidence the system quietly disenfranchises people who believed their vote counted all the way through.
Maine went one direction. Alaska has faced repeal efforts more than once. Massachusetts voters rejected RCV outright back in 2020. There's no national consensus here, and frankly, there might never be.
One thing is certain: this is no longer a niche complaint anymore. It's appearing in signature drives, ballot initiatives, debates on statehouse floors. No matter where you stand, the debate over how we count votes is far from settled, and Yes End RCV represents one loud voice in a conversation that's only getting louder.