Some states already use ranked choice voting, because each state gets to decide how to run their own elections. Alaska does, for example. I’m honestly not sure what happens if we abolish the electoral college and just count votes directly. If some states use ranked choice and some don’t, how do we count those votes fairly? Would the federal government have to take over presidential elections from the states? Would that require a constitutional amendment? Given what’s going on with the federal government right now, is that a power we would want them to have?
Most common answer would be to say only the “first choice” counts towards the vote total. If the system is score based (e.g. approval or range voting) then you can’t mesh that with a plurality system.
Some states already use ranked choice voting, because each state gets to decide how to run their own elections. Alaska does, for example. I’m honestly not sure what happens if we abolish the electoral college and just count votes directly. If some states use ranked choice and some don’t, how do we count those votes fairly? Would the federal government have to take over presidential elections from the states? Would that require a constitutional amendment? Given what’s going on with the federal government right now, is that a power we would want them to have?
Most common answer would be to say only the “first choice” counts towards the vote total. If the system is score based (e.g. approval or range voting) then you can’t mesh that with a plurality system.