Abstract
Ranked choice voting (RCV) has become increasingly popular in recent years, as more jurisdictions in the US adopt the voting system for local, state, and federal elections. Though previous studies have found potential benefits of RCV, some evidence suggests ranking multiple candidates instead of choosing one most preferred candidate may be difficult, with potential demographic disparities linked to age, gender, or racial or ethnic identity. Further, these difficulties have been assumed to cause individuals to improperly fill out RCV ballots, such as ranking too many or not enough candidates. This study seeks to answer three interrelated questions: 1) Which demographic groups find it difficult to rank candidates in RCV elections? 2) Who is more likely to cast under-voted ballots (not ranking all candidates)? 3) Is there a relationship between finding RCV voting difficult and the likelihood of casting an under-voted ballot? Using unique national survey data of 2020 Democratic primary candidate preferences, the results indicate most respondents find ranking candidates easy, but older, less interested, and more ideologically conservative individuals find it more difficult. In a hypothetical ranking of primary candidates, 12% of respondents under-voted (did not rank all options). Despite their perceived increased difficulty, older individuals were less likely to under-vote their ballot. No other demographic groups consistently experienced systematic differences in ranking difficulty or under-voting across a series of model specifications. These findings support previous evidence of older voters having increased difficulty, but challenge research assuming difficulty leads to under-voting, and that racial and ethnic groups are disadvantaged by RCV.
Highlights
Ranked choice voting (RCV) has become increasingly pop‐ ular in the US over the last two decades, as more cities and states adopt the preferential voting method into their election systems (Fortin, 2020)
RCV elections provide the opportunity for voters to rank the candidates from most to least preferred, and if the vot‐ ers’ most preferred candidate receives the least votes, that candidate is removed, and all votes cast for them
This study seeks to answer three interrelated ques‐ tions: 1) Which voters find it difficult to rank candidates in RCV elections?; 2) Who is most likely to cast an under‐ voted ballot?; 3) Is there a relationship between finding RCV voting difficult and the likelihood of casting an under‐voted ballot? Using a 1,000 people, nationally representative sample of likely 2020 Democratic primary voters, this study finds that 80% of respondents had no difficulty ranking candidates, with 51% saying the method was very easy
Summary
Ranked choice voting (RCV) has become increasingly pop‐ ular in the US over the last two decades, as more cities and states adopt the preferential voting method into their election systems (Fortin, 2020). No significant relationships regard‐ ing under‐voting were uncovered comparing racial and ethnic groups and only weak evidence linking socioeco‐ nomic status to under‐voting This suggests under‐voting may be a choice, not the result of difficulty in casting a ballot. These findings support earlier studies finding old vot‐ ers face more challenges ranking candidates (Donovan et al, 2019) and lower under‐vote rates (Neely & Cook, 2008), as well as provide some evidence that ranking dif‐ ficulty contributes to the tendency to cast incomplete ballots (Burnett & Kogan, 2014). The article closes with a summary of the findings and suggestions for future work
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