Virginia: Expand Ranked Choice Voting

Campaign Status: On Hold

UPDATE

On March 25, 2024, both the Virginia House and Senate passed a bill related to this policy (SB428), but Gov. Glenn Youngkin has since vetoed the legislation. We will continue to monitor this situation and work with our partners in Virginia to build momentum to pass this bill in 2025.

The Policy

Expand RCV pilot project

Background

Virginia passed an RCV pilot program allowing municipalities to use RCV for local elections and for parties to have RCV as an option for their primaries. In 2022, Arlington County became the first county in the state to adopt Ranked Choice Voting. Also the VA GOP used RCV to nominate winning candidates for Governor, LG, and AG. We will work to expand the number of municipalities using RCV and with both parties to expand use of RCV in primaries

Who’s Involved?

RepresentUs is working with a number of partners including UpVote Virginia, Big Money Out VA, Clean VA, League of Women Voters VA, Common Cause VA, Veterans for Political Innovation, Fair Vote, and Unite America.

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The Latest On This Campaign

Youngkin vetoed legislation that would have codified aspects of the RCV process already in place across Virginia

Apr 9 2024

The amended legislation, however, would not have expanded the process already in place. It would have codified a process to help with the confusion, which is part of what the Department of Elections asked for in their report.

Arlington to stick with ranked-choice voting for County Board primaries

Dec 21 2023

Arlington County will become the first municipality in Virginia to permanently implement ranked-choice voting in public elections, starting with the County Board primaries in June.

All in Favor - Ranked choice ballots could change the way we vote

Nov 6 2023

Supporters also say that ranked choice empowers voters more than traditional voting in that it makes every ballot affect the outcome of the election, even if that voter’s first choice did not win.