Support for Ranked Choice Voting
Ranked choice voting has drawn support as a sensible solution to problems with our elections, with backers including leading newspapers, political leaders, electoral reform commissions and organizations. Here is a sample of that support that focuses in particular on the single-winner form of ranked choice voting — also known as "instant runoff voting." (We invite you to add your own name, and we'll create a new page soon to feature people from around the USA.)
Academic Authorities Recommending Ranked Choice Voting
In 2020 (unless otherwise noted), the scholars listed below endorsed the following statement in support of expanded use of the single-winner, "instant runoff" form of ranked choice voting as adopted in Maine in 2016: "I support greater use of ranked choice voting for federal, state, and local elections in the United States."
Winners of Nobel Prize
Winners of Johan Skytte Prize ("The Nobel for political science")
Scholars on democracy, elections and mathematics
National Political Leaders
Authors and Thought Leaders
Click on a topic to begin.
Peter Diamond, MIT (2010 award in economic sciences)
Angus Deaton, Princeton University (2015 award in economic sciences)
Oliver Hart, Harvard (2016 award in economic sciences)
Eric Maskin, Harvard University (2007 award in economic sciences)
Roger Myerson, University of Chicago (2007 award in economic sciences)
William Nordhaus, Yale University (2018 award in economic sciences)
Edmund Phelps, Columbia University (2006 award in economic sciences)
Alvin Roth, Stanford University (2012 award in economic sciences)
Thomas Sargent, New York University (2011 award in economic sciences)
Robert Shiller, Yale University (2013 award in economic sciences)
Robert Axelrod, University of Michigan (2013 winner)
Francis Fukuyama, Freeman Spogli Institute for Intl. Studies, Stanford (2015 winner)
Peter Joachim Katzenstein, Cornell University (2020 winner)
Robert Keohane, Princeton University (2005 winner)
Arend Lijphart, University of California - San Diego (1997 winner)
Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University (2018 winner)
Robert Putnam, Harvard University (2006 winner)
Philippe Schmitter, European University Institute (2009 winner)
Rein Taagepera, University of California - Irvine (2008 winner)
Sam Wang
Professor of neuroscience at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Political scientist, and Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Roger Myerson
American economist and professor at the University of Chicago
Professor at Harvard University and Director of Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
American economist, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, and best-selling author.
American political scientist, political economist, writer and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Alan Abramowitz, Emory University
Danielle Allen, Harvard University
Nikolas Bowie, Harvard Law School
Shaun Bowler, University of California-Riverside
Charles Bullock, University of Georgia
Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin
John Carey, Dartmouth College
Rachael Cobb, Suffolk University
Michael Crespin, University of Oklahoma
Larry Diamond, Stanford University
Todd Donovan, Western Washington University
Joshua Douglas, University of Kentucky College of Law
David Farrell, University College Dublin
Caroline Frederickson, 2020 Georgetown Law distinguished visitor
Keith Gaddie, University of Oklahoma
William Galston, Brookings Institution
Nicholas Goedert, Lafayette College
Paul Gronke, Reed College & 2020 Carnegie Fellow
Bob Holmes, Clark Atlanta University (emeritus)
Mark Jones, Rice University
Pam Karlan, Stanford Law School
Phil Keisling, former Oregon Secretary of State / Center for Public Service at Portland State Univ.
Alex Keyssar, Harvard University
David Kimball, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Douglas Kriner, Cornell University
Didi Kuo, Freeman Spogli Institute for Intl. Studies, Stanford
Michael Latner, California Polytechnic State University
Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law School
Justin Levitt, Loyola Law School
David Lublin, American University
Sandy Maisel, Colby College
Alan Butler Morrison, George Washington Law School
Steven Mulroy, University of Memphis Law School
Jack Nagel, University of Pennsylvania (emeritus)
G. Bingham Powell, University of Rochester (former APSA president)
Miles Rapoport, Harvard Kennedy School (former Connecticut Secretary of State)
Ronald Rapoport, College of William and Mary (emeritus)
John Rapp, Beloit College (emeritus)
Benjamin Reilly, University of Western Australia
Andrew Reynolds, Princeton University
Jonathan Rodden, Stanford University
Mark Rush, Washington and Lee University
Matthew Shugart, University of California-Davis (emeritus)
Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Harvard Law School
James Thurber, American University
Caroline Tolbert, University of Iowa
Franita Tolson, University of Southern California Law School
Ismar Volić, Wellesley College
Sam Wang, Princeton University
Tova Wang, Harvard Kennedy School
(last updated Nov. 2020; additional editorials here):
The New York Times with a general position in 2018 and with a position in support of RCV for presidential primaries in 2020
The Washington Post in a long series of editorials, including this editorial about city council elections in 2020 and this editorial focused on Maryland and Virginia in 2019
The Boston Globe in a general editorial in 2018 and in favor of a state ballot measure in 2020
The Economist magazine in 2018
Publications in cities with RCV, including the Portland Press Herald (2011), Santa Fe New Mexican (2018) and Minneapolis Star Tribune (in 2016)
Massachusettes U.S. Senator
Former Arizona U.S. Senator
Former U.S. President
Former Democratic Presidential Candidate, American entrepreneur, politician, political commentator, philanthropist and author.
Jo Jorgensen
Former Libertarian Presidential Candidate, political activist and academic
Gary Herbert
Former Governor of Utah
Both major party presidential nominees in 2008 had taken leadership roles in supporting RCV, including in this radio ad in 2002 by Sen. John McCain (R) and this pro-RCV legislation sponsored by Barack Obama in 2002
Major party presidential candidates have backed ranked choice voting, including in: these video clips from Bernie Sanders (in 2019) and Andrew Yang (in 2019); these op-eds from Elizabeth Warren (n 2020), Howard Dean (in 2016) and Bill Weld (in 2020) and the leadership role and public statements of Deval Patrick and John Kerry in a 2020 ballot measure campaign
Minor party presidential candidates supporting ranked choice voting in the 2000's include: Libertarian Party nominees Gary Johnson and Jo Jorgensen; Green Party nominees Jill Stein, Howie Hawkins, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney and David Cobb; and independent Evan McMullin
Former Minnesota governor Arne Carlson (R) and U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger coauthored this 2020 oped supporting ranked choice voting in their state.
In 2020, Utah governor Gary Herbert (R) explained his support for ranked choice voting for primaries in this TV news story In 2019, Maine governor Janet Mills (D) explained her approval of legislation to expand RCV to presidential elections.
Hundreds of state legislators and Members of Congress have sponsored ranked choice voting legislation
Journalist, author, and public speaker
Conservative political and cultural commentator who writes for The New York Times
Television host and comedian
Political commentator
Briahna Joy Gray
American political commentator, lawyer, and political consultant
Chris Stirewalt
Fox political analyst
Featured recommendation in final report of the Academy of Arts and Science's Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship in 2020
League of Women Voters positions after studies in more than 10 states
Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter in 2020 book with businesswoman Katherine Gehl
Danielle Allen, Director of Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics in 2020 column
Scholar Larry Diamond in 2018 article
Harvard law professor Larry Lessig in this 2019 column
American Enterprise Institute's Norm Ornstein in 2017 book with EJ Dionne & Thomas Mann
Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen in 2020 column
Author Bill McKibben in 2020 column
Santa Claus, City Council Member, North Pole, Alaska, in 2020 (true story)
The Talking Heads' David Byrne (2020), Phish's Jon Fishman (2020) and Nirvana's Krist Novoselic (2018) in interviews