How does ranked choice voting actually help or hurt democracy and why are some people saying it’s confusing or better?

Updated June 14, 2025 • 1-min read

Posted by Anonymous

Jun 13, 2025

1 answer

rankedchoicevotingdemocracyPoliticsvoting

1 Answer

18

Posted by Anonymous - Jun 13, 2025

So, ranked choice voting is one of those things I've argued about with my friends, because some people think it's awesome, but others say it just makes things more confusing. Basically, instead of just picking one person, you rank your choices. If your favorite doesn't have enough votes, your vote goes to your next choice. Some people love this because it means you don't "waste" your vote and smaller parties get a better chance.

But honestly, I've noticed that adults—even my parents—sometimes get confused by it. Like, if you're used to just picking one guy, suddenly having to rank everyone can get stressful. Some people worry it makes mistakes more likely or could even make people not want to vote at all.

But experts, like I read from Sally Hudson, say it could make elections fairer and less negative, since politicians want to be everyone's second or third choice too. I think it's cool in theory, but it probably needs way better explanations in schools so people understand what they're doing. I like ideas that make democracy more fair, but it'd be nice if it wasn't so complicated. My friend tried it in our school's student council election once, and honestly, a lot of people just randomly ranked the last few.

Similar Questions

Popular Topics

Have an answer?

Sign in to share your knowledge and help others.

Follow us on social media