Ranked Choice Voting

I grew up in Cambridge, MA. While the home of Harvard, MIT and Lesley College, Cambridge was also, I think, the first city in the U.S. to use ranked voting. It wasn't called that then; we called it Plan E. It was a fairly simple system. You voted for candidates in the order you preferred. For example, when I voted for my cousin for City Council, I listed him as my #1 choice. I then proceeded to list my second, third, fourth,... ninth choice. When the votes were counted, a quota had been established that specified the necessary number of votes needed to be elected. If your #1 candidate did not make the quota and there were seats still to be filled, then the authorities counted #2 votes and added them to your #1 votes. Again - If your #1 candidate did not make the quota and their were seats still to be filled, then the authorities counted #2 votes and added them to your #1 votes. Etc. Eventually all seats would be filled.

The system is gradually making its way into more and more elections. The state of Maine is the first state to adopt it. I suspect that other states will join Maine. With ranked choice voting, voters can rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice.  When used as a form of fair representation voting to elect more than one candidate like a city council, state legislature or even Congress, it helps to more fairly represent the full spectrum of voters.