Residents of Peoria Township face an unusual question down-ballot this November: would they support the adoption of ranked choice voting in Illinois?
The question is non-binding, but it does check the temperature of the public’s sentiment toward the policy. Voters might remember a similar question on independent legislative redistricting, called “fair maps” by supporters, that township voters approved by a 3-to-1 margin in 2022.
Dr. Taraleigh Davis is an assistant professor of Public Law and American Politics at Bradley University. She said the easiest way to explain ranked choice voting is to think of it as an instant run-off election. Run-offs are secondary elections triggered when no candidate reaches the threshold of votes required to claim victory.
“You have one ballot, but instead of just voting for one candidate, you rank your candidates in order of your preference,” Davis said. “And then when they go to count all the votes, they look and if one candidate has received over 50%, the round is over and we have a winner.”
If no candidate is over 50%, the lowest candidate is eliminated and percentages are recalculated. This continues as long as it needs to, until one candidate exceeds that 50% share.
Davis said ranked choice voting already is used in other countries, as well as a number of states and municipalities, including Maine, Alaska and New York City.
“One of the main, I guess, positive aspects of this is that the runoff happens instantly,” Davis said. “To where taxpayers aren’t paying for another runoff.”
It’s important to note: Illinois doesn’t have runoffs in the primary or general elections, but they have proven costly in states that do. The 2021 Senate runoffs in Georgia cost taxpayers $10 million. On the local election level, the city of Kyle, Texas spent almost $13,000 on a runoff election the same year.
Proponents of ranked choice voting, like Sheldon Schaefer of the Peoria Chapter of the Illinois Green Party, believe the system would increase voter participation and civility in election contests.
Schaefer was the spokesperson introducing the question to the November ballot at April’s township meeting, where it passed 99 to 56.
“If you smear the opponents [in a ranked choice election] you’re sort of putting an odd road block in that process,” he said. “Because you don’t want to be smeared either. You want to be at least the second choice, if not the first choice.”
However, not everyone is sold on the proposed benefits of ranked choice voting.
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman is a member of the state’s Ranked Choice and Voting Systems task force, appointed by House Minority Leader Tony McCombie. Ackerman calls ranked choice voting a “theory.”
“Nowhere in the United States is it used completely for ballot checks. So then, what race are you talking about?” he said. “Some states have it for congressional, some states have it for municipalities. Those are two completely different styles of races impacting two dramatically different groups of individuals.”
Based on testimony given to the task force, Ackerman thinks implementation of ranked choice voting would ultimately be more expensive due to a need for ongoing voter education on the new system. He also argues the process regularly falls short of its projected benefits in practice and takes away voter choice.
“When you’re ranking that many, ‘I accidentally put two people down for number two,’” he said. “Well, throw your ballot out, that one doesn’t count. That’s the disenfranchisement, where you’re silencing individual peoples’ vote.”
Additionally, Ackerman is concerned by some of the technological upgrades that would be needed to conduct ranked choice voting, specifically the software that would manage the “instant runoffs.”
“In a day and era when we have individuals, when we are so aggressively promoting transparency, the ability to come in and see the process play out. To be able to see where every vote was cast and how it was cast,” Ackerman said. “Now, all of a sudden it’s ‘trust the box in the corner.’”
Supporters like Sheldon Schaefer say they don’t consider a software upgrade to be an “insurmountable impediment.” He does acknowledge Ackerman’s concerns about changing technology and the climate of distrust surrounding elections.
“And I think we trust our computer systems with the initial round,” Schaefer said. “Why would they be less trustworthy for the runoff round?”
It remains to be seen what recommendations that state task force will make. Their report is expected to be released by the end of the month.
