RCV brings voter confusion and delays to Arlington
by Harry Roth
For the first time, Arlington County, Virginia used ranked-choice voting in some elections this week. RCV was used in the Democratic primary election for County Board Members. The results are in, and it was a complete disaster.
A Washington Post headline admitted: “Virginia’s first ranked-choice election is vexing some Arlington voters.” Many voters complained the new system was confusing and even rejected some ballots. Final election results are still being tallied, and County Board officials are already conducting a poll to gauge voter’s opinions on using RCV. Even on a local primary level, ranked choice voting disrupts the election process.
In an interview with the local news, a voter said this about using ranked-choice voting for the first time:
“I had, of course, my favorite candidate, who I knew something about, but I didn't know very much about the other candidates. So, it made it difficult to actually have a good second and third choice.”
FairVote brushed off voter concerns in a blog post titled “Successful ranked choice voting rollout in Arlington, VA.” It’s a sad attempt to gaslight voters into believing their broken system works.
Ranked-choice voting failed in Arlington County, the same way it failed in Alameda County and locales across the country. Virginia lawmakers should protect their voters by banning ranked-choice voting.