Support for ranked choice voting across party and race: results from a national survey experiment

This paper presents results from a series of survey experiments testing the effects of various arguments on relative evaluations of ranked-choice (RCV) and choose-one ballots. We examine data from the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), allowing for comparisons across racial groups. Reformers have emphasized the voter's ability to have their vote transferred to a lower-ranked candidate as a positive aspect of the system. However, we find that an explanation of RCV's vote-transfer properties does not increase public support. Furthermore, when given a choice between the single and ranked voting methods, a majority within each racial group prefers the single vote. However, Latino, Asian American, and MENA respondents express a stronger preference for RCV than white respondents. Democrats also evaluate RCV more favorably than Republicans. Furthermore, communicating that RCV helps elect more women and people of color increases support among Democrats but not Republicans across most racial groups. This is consistent with other findings around growing partisan differences in views toward diversity and descriptive representation. Finally, a message emphasizing voter confusion has little impact on public support for RCV. Arguments about the impact of electoral systems are found to influence public preferences more than descriptions of those systems' key properties.