I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4464 

To establish the use of ranked choice voting in elections for the offices 

of Senator and Representative in Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 

Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. BEYER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. PETERS, Ms. 

PINGREE, Miss RICE of New York, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To establish the use of ranked choice voting in elections 

for the offices of Senator and Representative in Congress, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 

4 AUTHORITY. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Ranked Choice Voting Act’’. 

7 (b) FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.— 

8 Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the 


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1 terms and conditions States must follow in administering 

2 elections for the offices of Senator and Representative in 

3 Congress because the authority granted to Congress under 

4 article I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States 

5 gives Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, 

6 place, and manner of elections for such offices. 

7 SEC. 2. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC8 TION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

10 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 

11 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 

12 ‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting 

13 ‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING 

14 FOR ELECTION OF SENATORS AND REP15 RESENTATIVES 

16 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC17 TION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 

18 ‘‘(a) RANKED CHOICE VOTING.—Each State shall 

19 carry out elections for the office of Senator and the office 

20 of Representative in Congress, including primary, special, 

21 and general elections for such office, using a system of 

22 ranked choice voting (also known as instant runoff voting) 

23 under which each voter shall rank the candidates for the 

24 office in the order of the voter’s preference, in accordance 

25 with this title. 


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1 ‘‘(b) BALLOT DESIGN.—Each State shall ensure that 

2 the ballot used in an election carried out using a system 

3 of ranked choice voting under this title meets each of the 

4 following requirements: 

5 ‘‘(1) The ballot shall be simple and easy to un6 derstand. 

7 ‘‘(2) The ballot shall include all qualified can8 didates for the election and (to the extent permitted 

9 under State law) options for voters to select write10 in candidates. If feasible, the ballot shall permit vot11 ers to rank every candidate in the election. If it is 

12 not feasible for the ballot to permit voters to rank 

13 every candidate, the State may limit the number of 

14 candidates who may be ranked on the ballot to not 

15 fewer than 6. 

16 ‘‘(3) The ballot shall include such instructions 

17 as the State considers necessary to enable the voter 

18 to rank candidates and successfully cast the ballot 

19 under the system. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 322. PROHIBITING ADDITIONAL RUNOFF ELECTIONS. 

21 ‘‘(a) PRIMARY ELECTIONS.—No State may hold a 

22 runoff primary election for the office of Senator or the 

23 office of Representative in Congress after the date estab24 lished under State law for the primary election for such 

25 office. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTIONS.—No State may hold a 

2 runoff general election for the office of Senator or the of3 fice of Representative in Congress after the date estab4 lished under section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the 

5 United States (2 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled 

6 general election for such office. 

7 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL ELECTIONS.—No State may hold a 

8 runoff special election for the office of Senator or the of9 fice of Representative in Congress after the date estab10 lished by the State under State law for such special elec11 tion for such office. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 323. TREATMENT OF PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) CONDITIONS FOR HOLDING NONPARTISAN

14 BLANKET PRIMARY ELECTIONS.—A State may hold a 

15 nonpartisan blanket primary election for the office of Sen16 ator or the office of Representative in Congress only if 

17 State law provides that at least 3 candidates advance to 

18 the subsequent general election, or, if write-in candidates 

19 are allowed in the general election, at least 2 candidates 

20 advance. 

21 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

22 shall be construed to require a State to hold a primary 

23 election for the office of Senator or the office of Represent24 ative in Congress prior to the date established under sec25 tion 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 


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1 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled general election for 

2 such office, so long as the determination of the candidates 

3 who are elected to such office is based solely on the votes 

4 cast with respect to the election held on such date, as de5 termined in accordance with the system of ranked choice 

6 voting under this title. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 324. APPLICATION TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND 

8 TERRITORIES. 

9 ‘‘(a) ELECTION OF DELEGATES AND RESIDENT COM10 MISSIONER.—In this subtitle, the term ‘Representative’ in11 cludes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con12 gress. 

13 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION TO NORTHERN MARIANA IS14 LANDS.—This subtitle shall apply with respect to the 

15 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 

16 same manner as this subtitle applies to a State. 

17 ‘‘PART 2—TABULATION PROCESS 

18 ‘‘SEC. 331. TABULATION PROCESS. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF CANDIDATE’S NUM21 BER OF VOTES.—The number of votes received by a 

22 candidate in either the initial tabulation or in an ad23 ditional round of tabulation shall be equal to the 

24 number of ballots on which that candidate is the 

25 highest ranked continuing candidate. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ELECTION.—Except as pro2 vided in section 332, a candidate shall be elected to 

3 the office of Senator or the office of Representative 

4 in Congress (or, in the case of a primary election, 

5 shall advance to the general election for such office 

6 as provided under the law of the State involved) if— 

7 ‘‘(A) the candidate receives a number of 

8 votes greater than 50 percent of the number of 

9 ballots cast in the election; or 

10 ‘‘(B) if the election official carries out ad11 ditional rounds of tabulation under subsection 

12 (b), the candidate receives the greatest number 

13 of votes of the remaining continuing candidates 

14 (as described in such subsection). 

15 ‘‘(b) PROCESS IN CASE NO CANDIDATE ELECTED

16 UNDER INITIAL TABULATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF TABULATION.— 

18 If, under the initial tabulation of ballots, no can19 didate is elected to office (or, in the case of a pri20 mary election, no candidate advances to the general 

21 election for such office) under the criteria described 

22 in subsection (a)(2)(A), the election official shall 

23 carry out additional rounds of tabulation in accord24 ance with paragraph (2) until only 2 continuing can25 didates remain. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS IN ADDITIONAL

2 ROUNDS.—In each additional round of tabulation 

3 carried out under this subsection— 

4 ‘‘(A) the candidate receiving the fewest 

5 number of votes among all candidates (or, in 

6 the case of a State which applies batch elimi7 nation under section 334, each candidate in the 

8 batch elimination group) shall be treated as a 

9 defeated candidate; 

10 ‘‘(B) for each ballot cast for a defeated 

11 candidate, the election official shall determine 

12 the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who 

13 is a continuing candidate; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be 

15 transferred to, and added to the total number 

16 of votes received by, the highest-ranked con17 tinuing candidate determined under subpara18 graph (B). 

19 ‘‘SEC. 332. SPECIAL RULES FOR NONPARTISAN BLANKET 

20 PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF WINNING CANDIDATES.— 

22 In the case of a nonpartisan blanket primary election, a 

23 candidate for the office of Senator or the office of Rep24 resentative in Congress shall be treated as a winning can25 didate and shall advance to the general election for such 


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1 office if, during any round of tabulation carried out under 

2 this section, the candidate is a continuing candidate and 

3 the total number of winning and continuing candidates is 

4 equal to or less than the required number of winning can5 didates with respect to the election, as provided under the 

6 law of the State involved. 

7 ‘‘(b) TABULATION PROCESS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF TABULATION.— 

9 After the initial tabulation of ballots in a non10 partisan blanket primary election, the election offi11 cial shall carry out additional rounds of tabulation 

12 in accordance with paragraph (2) until the number 

13 of winning candidates is equal to the required num14 ber of winning candidates with respect to the elec15 tion, as provided under the law of the State involved. 

16 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS IN ADDITIONAL

17 ROUNDS.—In each additional round of tabulation 

18 carried out under this subsection— 

19 ‘‘(A) the candidate receiving the fewest 

20 number of votes among all candidates (or, in 

21 the case of a State which applies batch elimi22 nation under section 334, each candidate in the 

23 batch elimination group) shall be treated as a 

24 defeated candidate; 


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1 ‘‘(B) for each ballot cast for a defeated 

2 candidate, the election official shall determine 

3 the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who 

4 is a continuing candidate; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be 

6 transferred to, and added to the total number 

7 of votes received by, the highest-ranked con8 tinuing candidate determined under subpara9 graph (B). 

10 ‘‘SEC. 333. EXCLUSION OF INACTIVE BALLOTS. 

11 ‘‘In any round of tabulation of ballots under this 

12 part, including the initial tabulation of ballots, a vote shall 

13 not be counted for any candidate if it is cast on an inactive 

14 ballot. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 334. USE OF BATCH ELIMINATION. 

16 ‘‘(a) BATCH ELIMINATION DESCRIBED.—At the op17 tion of the State, with respect to any candidate elimination 

18 round carried out under this subsection, a State may use 

19 batch elimination to treat multiple candidates as defeated 

20 candidates for purposes of the additional rounds of tabula21 tion described in section 331(b)(2) or section 332(b)(2). 

22 A continuing candidate is in the elimination batch if it 

23 is mathematically impossible for that candidate to be a 

24 winning candidate in the election for any of the following 

25 reasons: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The candidate’s vote total in the initial 

2 tabulation of ballots plus all of the votes that could 

3 possibly be transferred to the candidate in the addi4 tional rounds of tabulation would not be enough to 

5 equal or surpass the continuing candidate with the 

6 next highest vote total in the initial tabulation of 

7 ballots. 

8 ‘‘(2) The candidate has a lower current vote 

9 total than a continuing candidate described in para10 graph (1). 

11 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE FOR NONPARTISAN BLANKET

12 PRIMARY ELECTIONS.—In the case of a nonpartisan blan13 ket primary election for which tabulation is carried out 

14 in accordance with section 332, a candidate may not be 

15 in the elimination batch if the candidate’s vote total is one 

16 of the top lll vote totals among all continuing can17 didates, with the blank space filled in with the required 

18 number of winning candidates with respect to the election, 

19 as provided under the law of the State involved. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 335. TREATMENT OF TIES BETWEEN CANDIDATES. 

21 ‘‘If a tie occurs between candidates with the greatest 

22 number of votes or the fewest number of votes at any point 

23 in the tabulation of ballots under this part and the tabula24 tion cannot proceed until the tie is resolved, the tie shall 

25 be resolved in accordance with State law. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 336. DETERMINATION OF VOTES CAST FOR CAN2 DIDATES OF POLITICAL PARTIES FOR PUR3 POSES OF ACCESS TO BALLOT IN FEDERAL 

4 ELECTIONS. 

5 ‘‘To the extent that a State takes into account the 

6 number of votes cast in an election for candidates of a 

7 political party in determining the right of candidates of 

8 the party to appear on the ballot in subsequent elections 

9 for Federal office in the State, the State shall determine 

10 the number of votes cast for a candidate solely on the basis 

11 of the initial tabulation of ballots in the election, and shall 

12 not take into account any additional round of tabulation 

13 under section 331(b) or section 332(b). 

14 ‘‘PART 3—PAYMENTS TO STATES TO IMPLEMENT 

15 RANKED CHOICE VOTING 

16 ‘‘SEC. 341. PAYMENTS TO STATES TO IMPLEMENT RANKED 

17 CHOICE VOTING. 

18 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS.—Not later than June 1, 2021, the 

19 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

20 amount equal to— 

21 ‘‘(1) in the case of the District of Columbia, the 

22 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, 

23 Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 

24 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

25 $1,000,000; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) in the case of any other State, the sum of 

2 $750,000 and the product of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the number of Representatives to 

4 which the State is entitled under the reappor5 tionment of Representatives resulting from the 

6 regular decennial census conducted during 

7 2020; and 

8 ‘‘(B) $250,000. 

9 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the payment 

10 made under subsection (a) to implement ranked choice 

11 voting under this subtitle, including educating voters 

12 about ranked choice voting, and to otherwise carry out 

13 elections for Federal office in the State. 

14 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

16 necessary for payments under this section. 

17 ‘‘PART 4—DEFINITIONS 

18 ‘‘SEC. 351. DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

20 ‘‘(1) The term ‘continuing candidate’ means, 

21 with respect to an additional round of tabulation 

22 conducted under section 331(b) or section 332(b), a 

23 candidate who is neither a winning candidate nor a 

24 candidate who is treated as a defeated candidate 


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1 under such section during the tabulation of ballots 

2 under such section. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘inactive ballot’ means, with re4 spect to a round of tabulation under section 331 or 

5 section 332— 

6 ‘‘(A) a ballot on which the voter does not 

7 rank any of the continuing candidates in order 

8 of preference; 

9 ‘‘(B) a ballot on which the voter ranked 

10 more than one continuing candidate at the 

11 highest order of preference; or 

12 ‘‘(C) a ballot on which the voter skips two 

13 or more consecutive numerical rankings prior to 

14 the ranking for the continuing candidate at the 

15 highest order of preference. 

16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘nonpartisan blanket primary 

17 election’ means a single, open primary election for 

18 the office of Senator or the office of Representative 

19 in Congress in which all candidates for the office are 

20 listed on the same primary election ballot, regardless 

21 of political party affiliation. 

22 ‘‘(4) The term ‘winning candidate’ means a 

23 candidate who was elected to office (or, in the case 

24 of a primary election, who advanced to the general 

25 election for such office as provided under the law of 


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1 the State involved) under the tabulation process ap2 plicable to the election under part 2 at any time dur3 ing the tabulation of ballots.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO APPLI5 CABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 401 

6 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘title III’’. 

8 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

9 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the item 

10 relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting 

‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELECTION OF

SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES

‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring ranked choice voting for election of Senators and Representatives. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Prohibiting additional runoff elections. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Treatment of primary elections. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Application to District of Columbia and Territories. 

‘‘PART 2—TABULATION PROCESS

‘‘Sec. 331. Tabulation process. 

‘‘Sec. 332. Special rules for nonpartisan blanket primary elections. 

‘‘Sec. 333. Exclusion of inactive ballots. 

‘‘Sec. 334. Use of batch elimination. 

‘‘Sec. 335. Treatment of ties between candidates. 

‘‘Sec. 336. Determination of votes cast for candidates of political parties for 

purposes of access to ballot in Federal elections. 

‘‘PART 3—PAYMENTS TO STATES TO IMPLEMENT RANKED CHOICE VOTING

‘‘Sec. 341. Payments to States to implement ranked choice voting. 

‘‘PART 4—DEFINITIONS

‘‘Sec. 351. Definitions.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL 

2 OFFICE. 

3 Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by 

4 this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which 

5 a State carries out elections for State or local office. 

6 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

7 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

8 by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act 

9 or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir10 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

11 of this Act, and the application of the provisions to any 

12 person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the hold13 ing. 

14 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

16 apply with respect to elections for Federal office held on 

17 or after January 1, 2022. 

Æ 


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