Ranked-choice voting fails in Denver
by Harry Roth
While ranked-choice voting (RCV) has historically struggled at the state level, it has sometimes found success locally, though that trend appears to be shifting.
Earlier this week, the Denver City Council voted 7-6 to reject a measure that could have implemented ranked-choice voting in citywide elections. Had it passed, voters would have decided on the measure this November.
Denver Councilmember Kevin Flynn explained his opposition to the RCV measure: “We had 17 candidates for mayor, but you can only rank six. Our current system gave every voter another shot at the two finalists, even if they hadn't voted for them in the first election. If we had used it in ‘23, any voter who did not include Mike Johnston or Kelly Brough in their rankings would have been disenfranchised.”
Ranked-choice voting has seen mixed results in Colorado. Six cities—Basalt, Boulder, Fort Collins, Telluride, Broomfield, and Carbondale—have adopted it. (Carbondale adopted it in 2002 but has yet to use it.) A statewide ballot measure to implement a top-four jungle primary with ranked-choice voting in the general election, Proposition 131, failed in November 2024 along with a slew of other similar ballot measures across the country.
Denver isn’t alone in rejecting RCV. In Park City, Utah, the city council reversed a previous decision to use RCV for the November election, citing voter confusion and unclear benefits. Heber City and Oakley, Utah, also opted against it earlier this year. In fact, at least half the Utah cities that tried RCV under a pilot program have now rejected it. The program expires next year.
As states increasingly ban ranked-choice voting, city councils are rejecting the scheme outright. It appears that ranked-choice voting is set to continue its downward spiral.