Ranked Choice Voting: Transform Elections for Fairer Representation with W$D

Why Ranked Choice Voting?

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), also known as “instant runoff voting,” has existed for decades but is gaining momentum following recent victories, such as Mamdani’s win in the 2025 New York City mayoral primary. RCV enables effective minority candidates to compete without massive campaign funding. Meanwhile, traditional single-choice voting has failed to serve the public’s interests for decades.

RCV’s benefits include:

• Making it easier for non-traditional, lower-income, and minority candidates to run, producing a wider choice for voters, including women candidates!
• Creating more civil campaigns that focus on issues, not personal attacks.
• Breaking the stranglehold of the two-party system, which has devolved into the “lesser of two evils.”
• Ensuring people’s votes count, even if their first choice is not viable. Their vote is not wasted.
• Creating enough interest to re-engage jaded and younger voters, increasing voter turnout.

Resistance to Ranked Choice Voting

There is resistance to RCV, with many state legislative bodies banning it. Ben Allen with Better Ballot Iowa calls these bans “incumbent protection acts,” and he’s not wrong. Why would an incumbent who won an election under the old system support a change that might challenge their incumbency? But that’s not stopping advocacy organizations in about 31 states from saying that now is the time to advocate for RCV.  

“People are tired of being misled and unrepresented by traditional candidates for office. They want to see new leadership that looks like them in every way and is willing to take their messages to the floor and advocate for people-centered policies,” says Marybeth Gardam of WILPF US’s Women, Money & Democracy (W$D) Committee.

Take Action with WILPF: Support Ranked Choice Voting

WILPF’s Women, Money & Democracy Committee has chosen RCV as its 2026 project and is exploring the various RCV models and how they compare.

In December 2025, W$D shared two polls with WILPF members. People voted on fun questions—their favorite ice cream flavor and when to start celebrating Christmas. More than 50 people participated. The results are here and here. The polls let people see what an RCV system feels like. They also showed how three RCV models could change the final outcome.

W$D member and RCV enthusiast Heather Vogler says, “We compared Ranked Robin voting, STAR voting, and Ranked Choice voting models. In advocating for RCV, we’ll be guided by the model that has the best chance of succeeding in our specific communities.”

What’s the next step? W$D is planning to educate others about RCV and encourage discussion around making our voting system fairer and more open. Watch for updates on RCV initiatives and ways to get involved.

You can get started locally: 

• Invite people to attend the Feb. 20 webinar to learn more. It’s open to the public—invite your personal networks, including family, friends, faith communities, and allies.
• Volunteer with the RCV advocacy organization in your state by checking this website.
• Conduct a simple RCV poll with a group to make choices about a movie, vacation, menu options, or book club read. It can be fun! Use this website to conduct these polls.  
• Propose that local elections use RCV (for civic, advocacy, or faith groups, or union elections). This lets RCV become more widely understood and adopted.
• Invite local RCV advocacy leaders to present at your meetings in any organization.

The Women, Money & Democracy Committee meets every third Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT/5:00 p.m. PT. Contact them to get the link for their meetings or to ask to participate in their Ranked Choice Voting project. Their next meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 17.