Five, possibly six, states will vote on ranked-choice voting measures this fall—the most ever in a single year

Five states—Alaska, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, and Oregon—have certified ballot measures for Nov. 5 related to adopting, repealing, or pre-empting ranked-choice voting. This is the most RCV-related statewide ballot measures being featured in any year. There is one potential citizen initiative pending signature verification in Colorado that could bring the total number this year to six. There are also two ballot initiatives, one in Arizona and one in Montana, that could lead to the adoption of RCV in these states, depending on how the legislatures choose to implement the proposals if approved.

On the ballot

Alaska Ballot Measure 2: This citizen initiative would repeal open top-four primaries and RCV general elections and return the state to partisan primaries and plurality voting at general elections, where the candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins. In 2020, Alaskans approved an initiative to adopt the top-four RCV electoral system by a margin of 50.55% to 49.45%.

Idaho Proposition 1: This citizen initiative would establish top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections, which would apply to congressional, gubernatorial, and state, and county elected offices. Currently, all political party candidates for federal, state, district, and county elective offices must be nominated via primary election (judicial candidates are exempted from this requirement). Idaho law also stipulates that political parties can determine for themselves who may participate in their primary elections. The Democratic Party allows unaffiliated voters to vote in its primary. The Republican Party allows only voters registered with its party. Unaffiliated voters can choose to affiliate with a party on Election Day.

Missouri Amendment 7: This legislatively referred constitutional amendment would establish that each voter has one vote per issue or open seat. The amendment would prohibit the ranking of candidates. The amendment would also prohibit top-two primaries, top-four primaries, and other similar electoral systems. It would require primary elections in which only one candidate from each political party, the one who receives the most votes, advances to the general election. This would not apply to any nonpartisan municipal election that is in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024, such as St. Louis, where approval voting is used. The amendment would also provide that only U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older can vote, thereby prohibiting the state or local governments from allowing non-citizen voting.

Nevada Question 3: This citizen-initiated constitutional amendment would establish open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections for congressional, gubernatorial, state executive official, and state legislative elections. In Nevada, initiated constitutional amendments need to be approved at two successive general elections. In 2022, the ballot initiative was approved as Question 3 by 52.94%-47.06%. Therefore, the ballot initiative must be approved for a second time on Nov. 5.

Oregon Measure 117: This legislatively referred state law would implement ranked-choice voting for elections to federal and state offices, including the president, U.S. senator, U.S. representative, governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, and commissioner of labor and industries. The law would also require the secretary of state to establish a program to educate voters about RCV.

Montana CI-127: This citizen-initiated constitutional amendment would require that a candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, state legislature, and congressional offices must win a majority of the vote (rather than a plurality) to win the election, as provided by law. The state legislature would need to pass a law providing for an electoral system with majority vote winners, such as runoff elections or ranked-choice voting.

Potential

Colorado Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative: This citizen initiative would establish top-four open primary elections and ranked-choice voting for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, Colorado University board of regents, state board of education, and state legislature. Initiative sponsors submitted nearly 213,000 signatures on Aug. 1, 2024. To qualify, 124,238 signatures need to be declared valid. The state’s deadline for verifying signatures is Aug. 30, 2024.

From 1965 through 2023, six statewide ballot measures proposed adopting ranked-choice voting in four states (Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada). Voters approved four (66.7%) and rejected two (33.3%). The measure receiving the highest rate of approval was Maine Question 1 (2018) with 53.88%, and the measure receiving the highest “no” vote was Alaska Ballot Measure 1 (2002) with 63.73%.

RCV is currently used statewide in Alaska and Maine and in Hawaii for certain elections. Fourteen states contain localities that either use or are scheduled to begin using RCV in municipal elections, and 10 states have enacted legislation prohibiting the use of RCV in any elections.

Additional reading: History of ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures