U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled general election for 
such office, so long as the determination of the candidates 
who are elected to such office is based solely on the votes 
cast with respect to the election held on such date, as de-
termined in accordance with the system of ranked choice 
voting under this title. 
‘‘SEC. 324. APPLICATION TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND 
TERRITORIES. 
‘‘(a) ELECTION OF DELEGATES AND RESIDENT COM-
MISSIONER.—In this subtitle, the term ‘Representative’ in-
cludes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con-
gress. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION
TO NORTHERN MARIANA IS-
LANDS.—This subtitle shall apply with respect to the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 
same manner as this subtitle applies to a State. 
‘‘PART 2—TABULATION PROCESS 
‘‘SEC. 331. TABULATION PROCESS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF CANDIDATE’S NUM-
BER OF VOTES.—The number of votes received by a 
candidate in either the initial tabulation or in an ad-
ditional round of tabulation shall be equal to the 
number of ballots on which that candidate is the 
highest ranked continuing candidate. 
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‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ELECTION.—Except as pro-
vided in section 332, a candidate shall be elected to 
the office of Senator or the office of Representative 
in Congress (or, in the case of a primary election, 
shall advance to the general election for such office 
as provided under the law of the State involved) if— 
‘‘(A) the candidate receives a number of 
votes greater than 50 percent of the number of 
ballots cast in the election; or 
‘‘(B) if the election official carries out ad-
ditional rounds of tabulation under subsection 
(b), the candidate receives the greatest number 
of votes of the remaining continuing candidates 
(as described in such subsection). 
‘‘(b) PROCESS IN CASE NO CANDIDATE ELECTED 
UNDER INITIAL TABULATION.— 
‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF TABULATION.— 
If, under the initial tabulation of ballots, no can-
didate is elected to office (or, in the case of a pri-
mary election, no candidate advances to the general 
election for such office) under the criteria described 
in subsection (a)(2)(A), the election official shall 
carry out additional rounds of tabulation in accord-
ance with paragraph (2) until only 2 continuing can-
didates remain. 
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‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS IN ADDITIONAL 
ROUNDS.—In each additional round of tabulation 
carried out under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the candidate receiving the fewest 
number of votes among all candidates (or, in 
the case of a State which applies batch elimi-
nation under section 334, each candidate in the 
batch elimination group) shall be treated as a 
defeated candidate; 
‘‘(B) for each ballot cast for a defeated 
candidate, the election official shall determine 
the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who 
is a continuing candidate; and 
‘‘(C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be 
transferred to, and added to the total number 
of votes received by, the highest-ranked con-
tinuing candidate determined under subpara-
graph (B). 
‘‘SEC. 332. SPECIAL RULES FOR NONPARTISAN BLANKET 
PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 
‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF WINNING CANDIDATES.— 
In the case of a nonpartisan blanket primary election, a 
candidate for the office of Senator or the office of Rep-
resentative in Congress shall be treated as a winning can-
didate and shall advance to the general election for such 
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office if, during any round of tabulation carried out under 
this section, the candidate is a continuing candidate and 
the total number of winning and continuing candidates is 
equal to or less than the required number of winning can-
didates with respect to the election, as provided under the 
law of the State involved. 
‘‘(b) TABULATION PROCESS.— 
‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF TABULATION.— 
After the initial tabulation of ballots in a non-
partisan blanket primary election, the election offi-
cial shall carry out additional rounds of tabulation 
in accordance with paragraph (2) until the number 
of winning candidates is equal to the required num-
ber of winning candidates with respect to the elec-
tion, as provided under the law of the State involved. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS IN ADDITIONAL 
ROUNDS.—In each additional round of tabulation 
carried out under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the candidate receiving the fewest 
number of votes among all candidates (or, in 
the case of a State which applies batch elimi-
nation under section 334, each candidate in the 
batch elimination group) shall be treated as a 
defeated candidate; 
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‘‘(B) for each ballot cast for a defeated 
candidate, the election official shall determine 
the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who 
is a continuing candidate; and 
‘‘(C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be 
transferred to, and added to the total number 
of votes received by, the highest-ranked con-
tinuing candidate determined under subpara-
graph (B). 
‘‘SEC. 333. EXCLUSION OF INACTIVE BALLOTS. 
‘‘In any round of tabulation of ballots under this 
part, including the initial tabulation of ballots, a vote shall 
not be counted for any candidate if it is cast on an inactive 
ballot. 
‘‘SEC. 334. USE OF BATCH ELIMINATION. 
‘‘(a) BATCH ELIMINATION DESCRIBED.—At the op-
tion of the State, with respect to any candidate elimination 
round carried out under this subsection, a State may use 
batch elimination to treat multiple candidates as defeated 
candidates for purposes of the additional rounds of tabula-
tion described in section 331(b)(2) or section 332(b)(2). 
A continuing candidate is in the elimination batch if it 
is mathematically impossible for that candidate to be a 
winning candidate in the election for any of the following 
reasons: 
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‘‘(1) The candidate’s vote total in the initial 
tabulation of ballots plus all of the votes that could 
possibly be transferred to the candidate in the addi-
tional rounds of tabulation would not be enough to 
equal or surpass the continuing candidate with the 
next highest vote total in the initial tabulation of 
ballots. 
‘‘(2) The candidate has a lower current vote 
total than a continuing candidate described in para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE FOR NONPARTISAN BLANKET 
PRIMARY ELECTIONS.—In the case of a nonpartisan blan-
ket primary election for which tabulation is carried out 
in accordance with section 332, a candidate may not be 
in the elimination batch if the candidate’s vote total is one 
of the top lll vote totals among all continuing can-
didates, with the blank space filled in with the required 
number of winning candidates with respect to the election, 
as provided under the law of the State involved. 
‘‘SEC. 335. TREATMENT OF TIES BETWEEN CANDIDATES. 
‘‘If a tie occurs between candidates with the greatest 
number of votes or the fewest number of votes at any point 
in the tabulation of ballots under this part and the tabula-
tion cannot proceed until the tie is resolved, the tie shall 
be resolved in accordance with State law. 
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‘‘SEC. 336. DETERMINATION OF VOTES CAST FOR CAN-
DIDATES OF POLITICAL PARTIES FOR PUR-
POSES OF ACCESS TO BALLOT IN FEDERAL 
ELECTIONS. 
‘‘To the extent that a State takes into account the 
number of votes cast in an election for candidates of a 
political party in determining the right of candidates of 
the party to appear on the ballot in subsequent elections 
for Federal office in the State, the State shall determine 
the number of votes cast for a candidate solely on the basis 
of the initial tabulation of ballots in the election, and shall 
not take into account any additional round of tabulation 
under section 331(b) or section 332(b). 
‘‘PART 3—PAYMENTS TO STATES TO IMPLEMENT 
RANKED CHOICE VOTING 
‘‘SEC. 341. PAYMENTS TO STATES TO IMPLEMENT RANKED 
CHOICE VOTING. 
‘‘(a) PAYMENTS.—Not later than June 1, 2021, the 
Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 
amount equal to— 
‘‘(1) in the case of the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, 
Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
$1,000,000; or 
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‘‘(2) in the case of any other State, the sum of 
$750,000 and the product of— 
‘‘(A) the number of Representatives to 
which the State is entitled under the reappor-
tionment of Representatives resulting from the 
regular decennial census conducted during 
2020; and 
‘‘(B) $250,000. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the payment 
made under subsection (a) to implement ranked choice 
voting under this subtitle, including educating voters 
about ranked choice voting, and to otherwise carry out 
elections for Federal office in the State. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for payments under this section. 
‘‘PART 4—DEFINITIONS 
‘‘SEC. 351. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘continuing candidate’ means, 
with respect to an additional round of tabulation 
conducted under section 331(b) or section 332(b), a 
candidate who is neither a winning candidate nor a 
candidate who is treated as a defeated candidate 
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under such section during the tabulation of ballots 
under such section. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘inactive ballot’ means, with re-
spect to a round of tabulation under section 331 or 
section 332— 
‘‘(A) a ballot on which the voter does not 
rank any of the continuing candidates in order 
of preference; 
‘‘(B) a ballot on which the voter ranked 
more than one continuing candidate at the 
highest order of preference; or 
‘‘(C) a ballot on which the voter skips two 
or more consecutive numerical rankings prior to 
the ranking for the continuing candidate at the 
highest order of preference. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘nonpartisan blanket primary 
election’ means a single, open primary election for 
the office of Senator or the office of Representative 
in Congress in which all candidates for the office are 
listed on the same primary election ballot, regardless 
of political party affiliation. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘winning candidate’ means a 
candidate who was elected to office (or, in the case 
of a primary election, who advanced to the general 
election for such office as provided under the law of 
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the State involved) under the tabulation process ap-
plicable to the election under part 2 at any time dur-
ing the tabulation of ballots.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO APPLI-
CABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 401 
of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking 
‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘title III’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the item 
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 Rep-
resentatives. 
‘‘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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SEC. 3. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL 
OFFICE. 
Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by 
this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which 
a State carries out elections for State or local office. 
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 
by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act 
or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir-
cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 
of this Act, and the application of the provisions to any 
person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the hold-
ing. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 
apply with respect to elections for Federal office held on 
or after January 1, 2022. 
Æ 
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