One useful improvement to our elections would be to implement ranked-choice voting (RCV). It would allow third-party candidates to run without being spoilers. In ranked-choice voting, voters rank their top three candidates. If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, then the third-place candidate is eliminated and their votes are distributed between the other two candidates, establishing a clear winner.

The advantages of RCV are:

• RCV would be a nonpartisan election reform.
• Many local elections are nonpartisan, and RCV would be a good choice for those elections.
• RCV would help avoid the time and expense of run-off elections and recounts.
• RCV might encourage participation by more candidates. They do not have to worry about being a spoiler.
• It ensures the winner has majority support.
• It would eliminate the inconvenience of a return to the polls for runoff elections by workers, elderly, and handicapped voters.
• It would eliminate the problem of contacting overseas and military voters for a runoff election.
• It would avoid eliminating the candidate preferred by most voters in close three-way elections.

Rank Choice Voting would give a clear winner with one election and eliminate much of the expense and work of a runoff election. Its use is becoming more common so there are models to build upon. Rank Choice Voting is used statewide in Alaska and Maine, in three states’ presidential primaries, and in many local elections nationwide. It would help choose the best candidate, as in many cases, a third-party candidate has served as a spoiler, though they had no chance of winning.