Arlington embraces ranked choice voting
In Virginia, Arlington County has led the way in adopting ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting improves elections by allowing voters to rank candidates by order of preference. Instead of a single choice, it allows voters to more fully express their preference by ranking candidates — providing voters with more choices.
In June 2023, the Democratic Party of Arlington County piloted ranked choice voting in its primary elections for the County Board of Supervisors, making it the first locality in Virginia to take advantage of bipartisan state legislation allowing cities and counties the option to use ranked choice voting to elect members of local governing bodies.
Through the use of ranked choice voting in the County Board of Supervisors primary, 84% of voters cast a ballot for a winning candidate – up from 45% in the last comparable two-candidate primary.
After the successful pilot in June 2023, the Arlington County Board unanimously voted in December 2023 to permanently adopt ranked choice voting for its primary elections.
“Today’s vote will show that using RCV in June wasn’t simply a one-off – it will show that Arlington’s experiment with RCV was a success and was just the beginning.”
Following the unanimous decision to continue using ranked choice voting for its County Board primaries, Arlington chose to expand the use of ranked choice voting by piloting this commonsense change to the ballot in the November 2024 County Board of Supervisors general election.
Learn more about ranked choice voting in Arlington County, including information on what a ranked choice ballot looks like.
Ranked Choice Voting is the fastest-growing nonpartisan electoral reform in the U.S. In Virginia, both Democrat and Republican parties have embraced ranked choice voting in recent years. Ranked choice voting rewards candidates who build coalitions, not those who rely on a narrow base of voters — resulting in more representative government, less polarization, and less partisan gridlock. To replicate Arlington’s success, contact your local officials and ask them to adopt ranked choice voting in your municipality.
Interested in ranked choice voting in Virginia? Sign up to learn more or volunteer with us to spread the word about ranked choice voting.
