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. KEN-
NEDY, 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 Administra-
tion 
A BILL 
To establish the use of ranked choice voting in elections 
for the offices of Senator and Representative in Con-
gress, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 
AUTHORITY. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Ranked Choice Voting Act’’. 
(b) FINDING
OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.— 
Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the 
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terms and conditions States must follow in administering 
elections for the offices of Senator and Representative in 
Congress because the authority granted to Congress under 
article I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States 
gives Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, 
place, and manner of elections for such offices. 
SEC. 2. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC-
TION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 
‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting 
‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING 
FOR ELECTION OF SENATORS AND REP-
RESENTATIVES 
‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC-
TION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 
‘‘(a) RANKED CHOICE VOTING.—Each State shall 
carry out elections for the office of Senator and the office 
of Representative in Congress, including primary, special, 
and general elections for such office, using a system of 
ranked choice voting (also known as instant runoff voting) 
under which each voter shall rank the candidates for the 
office in the order of the voter’s preference, in accordance 
with this title. 
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‘‘(b) BALLOT DESIGN.—Each State shall ensure that 
the ballot used in an election carried out using a system 
of ranked choice voting under this title meets each of the 
following requirements: 
‘‘(1) The ballot shall be simple and easy to un-
derstand. 
‘‘(2) The ballot shall include all qualified can-
didates for the election and (to the extent permitted 
under State law) options for voters to select write- 
in candidates. If feasible, the ballot shall permit vot-
ers to rank every candidate in the election. If it is 
not feasible for the ballot to permit voters to rank 
every candidate, the State may limit the number of 
candidates who may be ranked on the ballot to not 
fewer than 6. 
‘‘(3) The ballot shall include such instructions 
as the State considers necessary to enable the voter 
to rank candidates and successfully cast the ballot 
under the system. 
‘‘SEC. 322. PROHIBITING ADDITIONAL RUNOFF ELECTIONS. 
‘‘(a) PRIMARY ELECTIONS.—No State may hold a 
runoff primary election for the office of Senator or the 
office of Representative in Congress after the date estab-
lished under State law for the primary election for such 
office. 
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‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTIONS.—No State may hold a 
runoff general election for the office of Senator or the of-
fice of Representative in Congress after the date estab-
lished under section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (2 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled 
general election for such office. 
‘‘(c) SPECIAL ELECTIONS.—No State may hold a 
runoff special election for the office of Senator or the of-
fice of Representative in Congress after the date estab-
lished by the State under State law for such special elec-
tion for such office. 
‘‘SEC. 323. TREATMENT OF PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 
‘‘(a) CONDITIONS
FOR
HOLDING
NONPARTISAN 
BLANKET PRIMARY ELECTIONS.—A State may hold a 
nonpartisan blanket primary election for the office of Sen-
ator or the office of Representative in Congress only if 
State law provides that at least 3 candidates advance to 
the subsequent general election, or, if write-in candidates 
are allowed in the general election, at least 2 candidates 
advance. 
‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 
shall be construed to require a State to hold a primary 
election for the office of Senator or the office of Represent-
ative in Congress prior to the date established under sec-
tion 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 
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