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This collection on American democracy challenges and complements blog posts and opinion pieces that are typical staples of the 24/7 news cycle in the lead up to US elections. You'll find reports about election and campaign administration, voting access and participation, government performance and perceptions, the role of the media in civil society, and more.

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"VOTE!" by Paul Sableman licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Best Practices for Releasing RCV Election Results

August 10, 2022

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) uses a round-by-round count of ballots to eliminate the candidates with the least support and to ensure that the candidate with majority support wins. Ranked-choice voting reduces wasted votes and encourages people to vote sincerely, rather than strategically. In any election, however, one thing remains the same: the public – voters, candidates, parties, and the media – will have an intense interest in learning the results. Because RCV uses a new method to identify who won, the process for releasing results in RCV races can be especially important to minimize confusion, to convey results in a way that gives people the information they need, and to ensure the outcome is trusted and understood.FairVote and the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center have analyzed results from hundreds of RCV contests. Based on that experience, we recommend the following tried and true tips:Release a preliminary round-by-round tally on Election NightContinue to release preliminary tallies as more votes are countedConduct vote total checks with each release of preliminary resultsPublish the full ballot record so that anyone can verify the result Make use of existing tools for visualizing RCV resultsClearly communicate expectations, timelines, and resultsFollowing these best practices – to the extent permitted by state law – can help instill public confidence in the electoral process and its outcome.

Campaigns and Elections

Ensuring more voters count in presidential primaries: Exploring the potential of ranked choice voting ballots

October 8, 2021

This report reviews an important aspect of the Democratic Presidential nomination process in 2020: the advantages of increasing early access to voting, and the unintended consequence it creates for some early voters losing the chance to cast an effective vote.This report lifts up the experience of state parties that avoided that problem by offering ranked choice voting (RCV) ballots. Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, and Wyoming successfully introduced RCV ballots for all voters, while Nevada used RCV ballots for early voting. This greatly increased the numbers of votes that counted toward candidates earning delegates. Implemented nationally, ranked choice voting ballots likely would have resulted in over four million more Democratic voters having a direct effect on the contest. The Democatic National Committee has an opportunity to support this innovation and ensure votes count in 2024 and beyond.

Campaigns and Elections; Civic Participation