Politics

 FairVote - So far in 2024, 49 candidates have won statewide and congressional primaries with less than 50% of the vote, a new FairVote analysis finds. This is across the 32 states that have held primaries, and includes at least 12 candidates who won with a third of the vote or less. In our current single-choice voting system, a candidate can win an election with far less than 50% of the vote, meaning a majority of voters voted for someone other than the winner. That presents two major problems for our elections: 

• If the candidate is in a district safe for their party, they’ve essentially secured an office with just a fraction of a fraction of their constituents behind them.
• If the candidate is in a competitive district, they enter the general election weaker, without most of their party behind them.

Ranked choice voting would solve both problems, helping candidates win with a majority of votes and sending them into the general election stronger.