What are the benefits of ranked voting?


In elections for political office, ranked voting allows second, third and lower preference choices to be given weight in the event a voter's higher ranked choices do not show the electoral strength necessary to win a given election. In this way, overall social utility is maximized in the sense that the optimal level of voter happiness will be achieved. Ranked voting will give centrist and more moderate candidates and parties a greater chance to succeed in elections, reducing the power of the extreme elements on both sides of the political spectrum. It will encourage more moderate candidates to step forward and more moderate third parties to form. The extreme partisanship currently existing in politics will be mitigated. Donald Trump would likely not have won the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 because, although he had a very committed backing of a large minority of Republican voters, he faced a divided field of more moderate and traditional candidates who split the more rational majority of the party. Trump would likely not have been the second choice for many of the backers of other candidates. A more moderate candidate would likely have emerged as the eventual nominee. Opponents of ranked voting cite possible complexity and greater threat of computerized hacking or errors impacting election results. Entrenched politicians of both major parties oppose ranked voting because they do not want to encourage the formation of centrist third parties that could jeopardize the standing of their parties and their own political careers.