Choosing a Better Voting System: The Argument for Ranked Choice Voting in Worcester and Beyond

Ranked choice voting, or RCV, is a system that allows voters to indicate a preference not just for their first choice for an office, but for their second and third choices, and so on. Much like runoff elections, the system ensures that no one wins without more than 50 percent of the final vote. It may sound like an innovative idea, grabbing headlines recently when Maine became the first state in the country to adopt it, but it is not a new one. Around a dozen cities in the United States use RCV for local elections, and Worcester used the system to elect City Councilors and School Committee members from 1949 to 1959. This report will provide an overview of RCV, explain its advantages and disadvantages, and give context to how such a system could be re-implemented in Worcester, and what effects it would have.