"Wait your turn."
When two women run in the same race, they're warned they'll split the vote and hand the seat to someone else. Too often, one is asked to step aside.
Ranked choice voting is the pro-women, pro-voter, pro-democracy reform America needs. Voters can back the candidate they believe in, and no woman has to wait her turn to run.
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That gap isn't about ambition, qualifications, or a thin pipeline. Women are running in record numbers and raising record funding, yet parity scores have barely moved. The gap comes from an election system designed before women could vote, and never fundamentally redesigned since.
Progress has stalled. In 2026, women's share of seats held steady at every level of government, and the United States scored just 28.2 out of 100 on the Gender Parity Index. Since 2024, the number of women in Congress has slipped from 152 to 150.
Most U.S. elections use plurality rules: the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority. Those rules create three barriers that hit women hardest, especially women of color, younger women, independent women, and Republican women.
When two women run in the same race, they're warned they'll split the vote and hand the seat to someone else. Too often, one is asked to step aside.
When you only need more votes than anyone else, tearing down an opponent is a winning strategy. Negative campaigns drive voters away and fall hardest on women candidates.
Expensive campaigns and low-turnout runoffs favor the best-funded candidates, and women still face fundraising gaps.
When competitive races disappear, representation calcifies. This cycle, fewer than 40 of 435 House seats are competitive.
You rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third. If a candidate wins a majority of first choices, she wins. If not, the count works like an instant runoff.
Mark your favorite first, then your backups. Rank as many or as few candidates as you like.
If no one has a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated. Ballots for that candidate now count for each voter's next choice.
The count repeats until one candidate has majority support.
Your vote is never wasted on a candidate who can't win, and no candidate is ever a "spoiler."
Round 1: first choicesMajority = 50%+
No one has a majority yet.
Two, three, or four women can run in the same race without splitting the vote. No one has to wait her turn.
Candidates need second- and third-choice support, so attacking a rival's supporters backfires. Campaigns stay focused on ideas.
One decisive election replaces costly, low-turnout runoffs, and the biggest spender is no longer guaranteed to win.
Every winner has to reach beyond her base, so leaders take office with a broader mandate.
The pattern holds across ideologies and party lines.
of city council seats in RCV cities are held by women, significantly higher than in cities that don't use RCV.
of mayors in RCV cities are women. [Confirm figure.]
New York City Council seats held by women in 2025, up from 13 before ranked choice voting.
“In RCV elections, women win.”
Alaska has used ranked choice voting statewide since 2022. That year, three of the four finalists for U.S. Senate were women, from both parties, and each could run without fear of splitting the vote. [Update after the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot measure.]
Maine became the first state to use ranked choice voting statewide in 2018 and earns an A on the 2026 Gender Parity Index, one of only three states to do so. In Portland, Kate Snyder defeated an incumbent mayor despite being significantly outspent.
The nation's largest ranked choice jurisdiction transformed its City Council in one cycle. After the first RCV elections in 2021, women went from 13 seats to 31 of 51. In 2025, women won 32 seats, keeping a supermajority through a second RCV election.
In 2018, London Breed became the first Black woman elected mayor of San Francisco under ranked choice voting. That year, people of color held 16 of the city's 18 ranked-ballot offices.
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina send military and overseas voters a ranked ballot with their first ballot, so their votes still count if a race goes to a runoff. About 48,000 overseas voters, including more than 19,000 service members, live in these states.
In South Carolina's 2012 primary, 92.5% of overseas voters who cast primary ballots also took part in the runoff through their ranked ballots.
From Anchorage to New York City, women leaders say ranked choice voting let them run authentically, win fairly, and govern with broader support.
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[Insert existing quote from current page graphic.]
[New quote: a mayor elected under RCV.]
[New quote: a NYC Council member elected in 2021 or 2025.]
[New quote: a local nonpartisan official.]
elected offices in the U.S.
Most are single-winner seats, and many are nonpartisan: city councils, school boards, mayors, and county executives. Ranked choice voting works in all of them, just as they're structured today.
It's also used or endorsed by the American Bar Association, Robert's Rules of Order, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
As of March 2026, ranked choice voting is used in 49 cities, counties, and states, including one state that uses it for special elections.
cities, counties, and states use RCV
states use it statewide: Maine and Alaska
cities and counties use it for local elections (36 cities, 3 counties)
use ranked ballots for military and overseas voters (6 states, 1 city)
Source: FairVote, as of March 2026.
We are the bridge between two movements that need each other. We bring research on women's representation to reform campaigns and legislatures, and we bring reform to the women's organizations, leaders, and candidates who benefit most.
Our research, including the Gender Parity Index, shows how election rules shape who runs, who wins, and who leads.
We testify before legislatures and city councils and support campaigns for ranked choice voting and proportional representation.
We bring women's organizations and leaders into the reform movement through the Women's Power Collaborative and state partnerships.
Help us redesign democracy for women, with women.
No. In Alaska, 85% of voters said ranking their choices was simple. You can rank as many or as few candidates as you like, and ranking only one still counts.
When no one wins outright, the count can take a few extra days, much like counting mail ballots. That's still faster than a separate runoff election weeks later. [Verify.]
Jurisdictions often save money by eliminating separate runoff elections. Upfront costs for equipment and voter education vary by place. [Add source.]
Where RCV is used, candidates of color have run and won in greater numbers. In San Francisco, people of color held 16 of 18 ranked-ballot offices in 2018. Strong voter education is part of every successful rollout. [Add research citation.]
Voters and officials across the political spectrum. Ranked ballots are used in red and blue places alike, by military voters in Southern states, and by the American Bar Association and Robert's Rules of Order. 77% of voters under 50 support it.
Research, op-eds, and news from RepresentWomen and our partners.
By Cynthia Richie Terrell
By Livia Follet
Reform leaders on how RCV opens paths to office for women