Voting in Ranked Choice Vote (RCV) Elections Improves Evaluations of RCV

• In Event: Alternative Voting Schemes

Abstract

Ranked choice voting (RCV) is an alternative method of electing single member districts that eliminates the spoiler effect and guarantees a majority winner. Some worry that voters might find RCV to be confusing and intimidating. Others applaud RCV for producing better campaigns. What do the voters think? And does the experience of voting in a ranked choice vote election change the way people view RCV? This study introduces an intensive mobilization treatment into a panel survey conducted before and after an RCV election. The analysis treats the mobilization treatment as an instrumental variable, in order to isolate the effects of exogenously-driven voter turnout. Results: When people are mobilized to vote in an RCV election, their evaluations of RCV increase across multiple dimensions - including reports about how easy RCV is to understand, the quality of campaigns under RCV, overall approval of RCV, and subjects' confidence in their own ability to use the voting system.

Author

• Victoria Anne Shineman, University of Pittsburgh