Georgia Republicans Propose Bill to Ban Ranked-Choice Voting Amid Controversy Over Its Impact on Minority Voters

Studies offer conflicting views on the effects of ranked-choice voting, with one suggesting it may harm black and Native American voters, while another indicates nonwhite voters rank more candidates and nonwhite candidates increase their vote share.

• Georgia Republicans, led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, have introduced a bill to prohibit the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in elections, citing concerns about voter confusion and potential disenfranchisement.
• A study by Princeton University professor Nolan McCarty suggests that RCV may disproportionately harm black and Native American voters, with higher rates of ballot exhaustion observed in these communities.
• McCarty's study also found that minority voters tend to support candidates within their own ethnic group, a phenomenon known as 'affinity voting'.
• Contrary to McCarty's findings, a study by FairVote suggests that nonwhite voters tend to rank more candidates than white voters in RCV elections, and nonwhite candidates increased their vote share at greater rates in races that went to second- or third-round tallies.
• RCV is currently used in 62 jurisdictions across the U.S., including Alaska, Maine, New York City, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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