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S 2951Elections & Voting

Elections - Ranked Choice Voting

This bill allows towns to adopt a ranking system for local elections where voters list candidates in order of preference.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation allows Rhode Island cities and towns to adopt "ranked choice voting" (RCV) for their local elections, starting in 2027. To make this change, a municipality must pass a charter amendment approved by voters. Under RCV, voters rank candidates by preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd) rather than selecting just one. If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are transferred to those voters' next preferences. This process continues in rounds until a winner is determined. Towns using RCV would not hold separate primary elections.

For younger readers

Imagine your class is voting for a movie to watch. Instead of just raising your hand for one movie, you write down your favorite movie as number 1, your second favorite as number 2, and so on. If your favorite movie doesn't get enough votes to win, your vote moves to your second favorite choice. This bill lets towns in Rhode Island use this style of voting to pick their local leaders, like mayors or town council members, starting in the year 2027. It gives voters more choices on their ballot.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
VotersCandidates for Local OfficeMunicipal ClerksState Board of ElectionsElection Officials
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. Courts in other jurisdictions (such as Maine and New York City) have generally upheld Ranked Choice Voting against constitutional challenges regarding "one person, one vote." The bill provides a clear mechanism for tabulation that treats every ballot equally in the ultimate determination of the winner. As the Constitution grants states broad power to determine the manner of elections, this opt-in local provision is likely legally sound.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes a more inclusive democracy by eliminating the "spoiler effect," allowing voters to support third-party or progressive candidates without fear of inadvertently helping an ideologically opposed candidate win.
  • Encourages a more diverse range of candidates, including women and people of color, to run for office by removing the barrier of restrictive primary elections and rewarding coalition building over negative campaigning.
  • Ensures that winning candidates have broader community support by requiring a majority consensus rather than a simple plurality, preventing candidates with low total support from winning in crowded fields.
  • Creates a potential patchwork of voting rights where wealthy, resource-rich municipalities may adopt the system while poorer communities remain stuck with older systems, exacerbating inequity.
  • The complexity of the ballot design and ranking process could confuse some voters, particularly those with lower literacy levels or English as a second language, potentially leading to unintentional disenfranchisement.
  • Does not mandate the system statewide or for state-level offices, limiting the scope of systemic reform and leaving the most powerful state positions under the influence of the traditional two-party establishment.
For Conservatives
  • Eliminates the need for separate, taxpayer-funded primary elections in participating towns, reducing the size and cost of local government administration.
  • Upholds the principle of local control and home rule by allowing individual municipalities to decide for themselves whether to adopt this system rather than imposing a statewide mandate.
  • Ensures that elected officials have a true majority mandate from their constituents, preventing radical candidates from winning simply because the moderate vote was split among multiple candidates.
  • Undermines the traditional "one person, one vote" system by creating a complex tabulation process that some argue manufactures a majority for a candidate who did not receive the most first-place votes.
  • Increases the potential for voter confusion and spoiled ballots, which could erode public trust in election integrity and the legitimacy of the final results.
  • Delays election results due to the requirement for round-by-round tabulation, moving away from the transparency and speed of traditional election night reporting.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 121 additions

SECTION 1. Legislative Findings and Purpose.

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that:

(l) Ranked choice voting is an election method that empowers voters by giving them the option to rank candidates in order of preference;

(2) Ranked choice voting has been used effectively in hundreds of elections for public office in the United States and around the world; and

(3) Allowing localities to change their current methods of election to ranked choice voting may enhance voter choice, address the "spoiler'' effect, encourage a greater range of candidates to run for office, help reduce political polarization, and strengthen democracy by providing for broader and more inclusive political representation.

(b) ln order to address the findings set forth in subsection (a), it is the purpose of this chapter to allow local jurisdictions to adopt ranked choice voting for local elections.

SECTION 2. Title 17 of the General Laws entitled "ELECTIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 17-31-1. Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Active candidate" means any candidate who has not been eliminated or elected.

(2) "Active value'' (or "transfer value") means the proportion of a vote that a ballot will contribute to its highest-ranked active candidate.

(3) "Election threshold" means the minimum whole number of votes that guarantees the election of a candidate to a seat based on the number of seats to be filled. To determine this threshold, divide the total number of valid votes cast, by the sum of one and the number of seats to be filled, round that number down to the nearest whole number, then add one vote.

(4) "Inactive ballot" means a ballot that, during the round-by-round counting process, ceases to count for any candidate for the remainder of the counts processed for an election for an office.

(5) "Overvote" means a voter assigns more than one candidate the same ranking on their ballot.

(6) "Ranking" means the number available to be assigned by a voter to a candidate to express the voter's preference for that candidate. The number "l" is the highest ranking, followed by "2" and then "3" and so on.

(7) "Round" means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation described in §§ 17-31- 4(a) or 17-31-4(b).

(8) "Surplus fraction" means the proportion by which a winning candidate exceeds the election threshold. To determine the surplus fraction, subtract the election threshold from a winning candidate's vote total, then divide that number by the winning candidate's vote total, truncated after four (4) decimals.

(9) "Undervote" means a ballot that does not rank any candidate in an election for a particular office.

(10) "Vote total" means the total active value of all ballots counting for a candidate in a round of counting. 17-31-2. Application of ranked choice voting. Any local jurisdiction, by a charter amendment approved by the provisions of this chapter and the voters, may allow for any local primary, general, or special election to be conducted by ranked choice voting, under the rules promulgated by the board of elections. This chapter shall not apply to any candidate whose sought after district represents more than one municipality, unless all municipalities adopted ranked choice voting. Notwithstanding any other laws to the contrary, any local body that conducts its general or special election by ranked choice voting may hold a nonpartisan general election. Such jurisdictions shall not hold a separate primary election. 17-31-3. Ranked choice voting ballot.

(a) In any ranked choice voting election, the ballot shall allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

(b) In any single-winner ranked choice voting election, the ballot shall allow voters to rank five (5) candidates. Notwithstanding any laws to the contrary, in any multi-winner ranked choice voting election, each voter shall have only one vote, and the ballot shall allow voters to rank four

(4) more candidates than the number of seats to be nominated or elected. If there are fewer candidates than the number of rankings required in this subsection, the number of rankings shall be reduced accordingly. The number of rankings allowed in an election for any given office shall be uniform for all voters voting on that office within the state. 17-31-4. Round-by-round tabulation.

(a) Single-winner tabulation. ln any election for one office conducted by ranked choice voting, each ballot counts as one vote for its highest-ranked active candidate. The candidate with the greatest number of votes at the end of the count is nominated or elected. The count proceeds in rounds as follows:

(1) If there are more than two (2) active candidates, the active candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes for the eliminated candidate count for each ballot's next-ranked active candidate.

(2) If there are two (2) or fewer active candidates, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected and the count is complete.

(b) Multi-winner tabulation. In any election for more than one office conducted by ranked choice voting, each ballot counts, in whole or in part, for its highest-ranked active candidate in each round. Each ballot starts tabulation with an active value of one vote. Tabulation proceeds in rounds as follows:

(1) Election round. If any active candidate's vote total equals or exceeds the election threshold or if any candidate remains active when the number of active candidates is fewer than or equal to the number of seats that have not yet been filled, that candidate is elected. If the elected candidate's vote total exceeds the election threshold, each ballot that helped elect that candidate is counted as follows:

(i) The ballot receives a new active value by multiplying the ballot's current active value by the elected candidate's surplus fraction, truncated after four (4) decimals. The ballot then counts at this new active value for its next highest-ranked active candidate. If two (2) or more candidates' vote totals exceed the election threshold, each candidate's surplus votes are distributed simultaneously.

(ii) The portion of the ballot's value that was required to elect the candidate continues to count for that candidate in order that the elected candidate's vote total equals the election threshold for the remainder of the tabulation.

(iii) Elimination round. If no active candidate's vote total meets the election threshold and tabulation is not yet complete, the active candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and votes for that candidate count at their current active value for each ballot's next highest-ranked active candidate.

(3) Tabulation complete. Tabulation is complete if the number of elected candidates is equal to the number of seats to be filled and any votes exceeding the election threshold have been counted for each ballot's next highest-ranked active candidate.

(c) Treatment of ballots.

(1) An undervote is a ballot that does not rank any candidates in an election for a particular office. An undervote does not count as an active or inactive ballot in any round of tabulation of that election.

(2) An inactive ballot is a ballot that during the round-by-round counting process, ceases to count for any candidate for the remainder of the counting process for an election to an office. A ballot becomes inactive when all candidates ranked on the ballot have become inactive.

(3) An overvote occurs when a voter assigns more than one candidate the same ranking on their ballot. Any candidate included in an overvote shall be treated as inactive for the purposes of counting that ballot and the ballot shall continue to count for any remaining active candidates.

(4) During the count, a ballot shall remain active and continue to count for its highest- ranked active candidate, notwithstanding any skipped or repeated rankings. A skipped ranking occurs when a voter leaves a ranking unassigned but ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking. A repeated ranking occurs when a voter ranks the same candidate at multiple rankings.

(5) If a candidate withdraws, dies, or for any reason becomes disqualified after the ballots have been printed, the candidate shall be treated as an eliminated candidate during the count unless a ranking for that candidate is to be deemed a ranking for a substitute candidate, pursuant to applicable law. To withdraw, a candidate or a candidate's authorized designee shall file a signed letter of withdrawal pursuant to § 17-14-15, any other provisions of applicable state law, or any applicable rules established by the board of elections or the secretary of state.

(d) Ties. Notwithstanding § 17-15-33 or any provisions of the general laws to the contrary, if two (2) or more candidates are tied with the fewest number of votes, and tabulation cannot continue until the tie is resolved, the tie shall be resolved by lot. Election officials may resolve prospective ties between candidates prior to tabulation. The result of any tie resolution shall be recorded and reused in the event of a recount. 17-31-5. Rulemaking and regulations.

(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the state board of elections shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to implement this chapter.

(b) Such rules and regulations shall include a process to release:

(1) Unofficial preliminary round-by-round results starting on election night;

(2) Unofficial preliminary ballot-level ranking data in a machine-readable and searchable open format immediately after the counting of ballots is complete; and

(3) Official final round-by-round results and official final ballot-level ranking data in a machine-readable and searchable open format upon certification of the results.

(c) Such rules and regulations shall also establish a voter education program, an election official training program, and a process to certify ranked choice voting counting tools for use in elections within the state. 17-31-6. Severability. If any provision of this chapter, or the application of any provision of this chapter to any person, office, or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this chapter and the application of its provisions to any person, office, or circumstance, shall not be affected by the holding.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.