Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) lets voters express their full preferences, not just a single choice. Voters rank options (1st, 2nd, 3rd...), and if no option gets a majority, the system eliminates the least popular choices and redistributes those votes — round by round — until one option has majority support.
How It Works
RCV uses iterative elimination to find the option with broadest support.
- Voters rank all options in order of preference on their ballot
- First-choice votes are counted — if any option has a majority, it wins
- If no majority, the option with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated
- Votes redistribute — voters who chose the eliminated option have their votes transferred to their next preference
- Repeat until one option achieves majority support
Variations
- Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) — the standard single-winner implementation
- Single Transferable Vote (STV) — multi-winner variant for selecting multiple representatives
- Preferential Voting — general category for rank-based systems
Advantages
- Prevents vote-splitting among similar options
- Encourages genuine voting preferences rather than strategic choices
- Produces winners with broad consensus rather than narrow pluralities
- Reduces the spoiler effect
Limitations
- Not designed for simultaneous multi-project funding allocation
- Struggles with real-time decisions or binary choices
- Low-engagement settings can produce distorted results
- More complex for voters to understand than simple plurality voting
Best Used When
- Selecting a single proposal, steward, or project from many candidates
- Environments prioritizing broad consensus over plurality wins
- Diverse groups seeking convergence on a shared direction
- Organizations requiring legitimate, well-supported outcomes
Examples and Use Cases
Delegate Selection
Protocol DAOs select lead delegates using RCV, ensuring the chosen representative has support beyond a narrow faction.
Ecosystem Priority Setting
Grant programs use RCV to identify ecosystem funding priorities from a long list of potential focus areas.
Community Project Selection
Civic networks choose community projects for special support using ranked ballots.
