Featured Reports + Articles

Ranked-Choice Voting Delivers Representation and Consensus in Presidential Primaries

Baodong Liu, Nadia Mahallati, Charles M. Turner

A report by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group,, 2021

This project examined the results of the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination contests in the five states that adopted ranked-choice voting (RCV) rules. Our findings indicate that voters used their rankings not only to nominate the strongest candidate to represent the party in the general election but also to ensure representation of the party’s diverse electorate at the national convention.

Only RCV Could Save American Democracy Now

Dr. Michael Osterholm and Andy Slavitt

The Star Tribune Opinion Exchange, 2020

“While politics has become dispiriting, RCV can give us hope. It can strengthen our democracy and would have a tremendous impact for years to come. This reform can elect the kind of leaders we need, make us better prepared for the next health crisis and improve our state for the better.”

The Long Game of Democratic Reform

Larry Diamond

The American Interest, 2019

“A growing array of reformers are coming to see the logic of “master reform,” the one most likely to break the logjam on all the others: Ranked Choice Voting.”

One Reform to Save America

David Brooks

The New York Times, 2018

“The good news is that attention seems to be shifting to ranked-choice voting, a change that would have much bigger and better effects.”

Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century

Danielle Allen, Steven Heintz and Eric Liu

An American Academy of Arts and Sciences Special Report, 2020

Recommendation 1.2: “Introduce ranked-choice voting in presidential, congressional, and state elections.”

MN Business Leaders: Legislature should support ranked-choice voting bill

P. Wheeler, Marc Gorelick, B. and P. George, K. Ekdahl and P. Hutchinson, J. and P. Cowles, K. Doran, W. Nelson, K. Nelson, M. C. Nelson, K. Powell and W. Bennett, M. and E. Sweeney, and J. Leslie.

The Star Tribune Opinion Exchange, 2019

Minnesota is home to a robust and diverse group of employers, large and small, including 19 Fortune 500 companies. While our firms vary in size, we share one thing: the need for stability and predictability in our economic and political environment.”

In praise of ranked-choice voting: A simple reform might fix America’s dysfunctional politics

The Economist, 2018

RCV is not new. Australia has used it for a century, Malta and Ireland for slightly less. Some Oscar winners are chosen by RCV, as are prizewinners at the World Science Fiction Convention. Several American cities—including Minneapolis, San Francisco, Portland (Maine) and Santa Fe—have recently adopted it, too. “

The Primaries Are Just Dumb: There’s a better way to do democray.

The New York Times Editorial Board

The New York Times, 2020

Single-winner elections do a poor job of winnowing a large field of candidates down to one who reflects majority agreement, and encourage the type of nastiness we’re seeing now, because it’s all-or-nothing for each candidate.”

Original Sin: How to fix the design flaws in American democracy

Lee Drutman

The Economist, 2020

“Winner-takes-all politics means voters have limited choices. When one or other big party predominates—as is now the case in most state and local races—there is no real choice at all. Meanwhile, closed primaries allow ideological outliers to take over national parties.”

A Recovery Squandered: The State of US Competitiveness 2019

Michael E. Porter, Jan W. Rivkin, Mihir A. Desai, Katherine M. Gehl, William R. Kerr, Manjari Raman

Harvard Business Review, 2019

 “Plurality voting motivates candidates to appeal to their base, but not necessarily to appeal to a majority of voters. RCV, instead, ensures that the candidate with the broadest appeal to the greatest number of voters always wins.”

Ranked choice in the presidential primary? Not this time, obviously, but next time, please

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, Penny and Bill George, Tom Horner, Peter Hutchinson and Karla Ekdahl.

The Star Tribune Opinion Exchange, 2020

“Our current nominating process is designed as a series of cutthroat contests that polarize supporters and discourage consensus-building. This process heightens divisions and we fear will leave us with a nominee who does not reflect the will of the majority of the people.”