U.S. local election ranked choice voting outcomes for women 2010-2019
Between 2010 and 2019, there were around 156 local level elections held in the United States that utilized ranked choice voting. In those elections, around 34 percent of candidates were women, and around 48 percent of open seats were won by women.
Ranked choice voting is a system of voting in which voters rank multiple candidates by preference. There are different ways of attributing value to voting choice (first, second, third choice, etc.), but generally speaking, if no single candidate has a majority, the candidate with the lowest share of the vote is eliminated. In an electoral situation with three candidates, the votes of people who voted for the third-ranked candidate as their first choice are redistributed to the remaining two candidates based on who voters chose as their second choice. In elections with more than three candidates, this process can be repeated until a winner is found.
Ranked choice voting is a system of voting in which voters rank multiple candidates by preference. There are different ways of attributing value to voting choice (first, second, third choice, etc.), but generally speaking, if no single candidate has a majority, the candidate with the lowest share of the vote is eliminated. In an electoral situation with three candidates, the votes of people who voted for the third-ranked candidate as their first choice are redistributed to the remaining two candidates based on who voters chose as their second choice. In elections with more than three candidates, this process can be repeated until a winner is found.
