Ranked Choice Voting in College Park: What the Data Tells Us and What Comes Next

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is widely viewed as an innovative election tool with meaningful potential benefits. In many cities, it has helped ensure winners have broader majority support, reduced negative campaigning, and given voters more choice and voice in competitive races. Advocates also point to RCV’s ability to minimize vote-splitting and encourage more issue-focused campaigns, making it an appealing option for communities looking to strengthen local democracy.

At the February 10 City Council Worksession, the Mayor and Council will hold a detailed discussion with the City of College Park’s Board of Election Supervisors (BOES) about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)—a voting system that allows voters to rank candidates instead of selecting just one. This conversation is the result of nearly two years of careful study, local data analysis, and community engagement by the Board.

The Board’s presentation makes clear that it is not opposed to ranked choice voting in principle. In fact, BOES acknowledges that RCV can be a valuable tool in jurisdictions where elections frequently involve many candidates competing for a single seat and where vote-splitting regularly distorts outcomes. However, the Board’s central conclusion is that College Park’s current election environment does not yet meet those conditions.

One of the most important findings shared in the presentation is that College Park elections already tend to produce clear, majority-supported winners under the current system. For example, in recent elections with multiple candidates—including the 2023 mayoral race and the 2025 District 3 special election—the winning candidates earned well over 50% of the vote on the first count. Historically, races with four or more serious candidates are relatively rare in the City, and many contests are uncontested. As a result, the specific problem RCV is designed to solve—spoiler outcomes—has not been a recurring issue locally.

Instead, the Board identified low voter turnout as the City’s most significant democratic challenge. In the November 2025 General Election, turnout was just under 10 percent. During that election, poll workers also documented widespread voter confusion, including residents unsure whether the election was partisan, unclear about what offices were on the ballot, or even uncertain whether they lived within City limits. The Board cautioned that introducing a more complex voting system without first addressing these foundational gaps could unintentionally discourage participation rather than expand it.

The presentation also highlights the real costs and operational demands associated with ranked choice voting. Implementing RCV would require redesigned ballots, new tabulation and audit procedures, expanded training for election judges and staff, and sustained, multilingual voter education efforts every election cycle. For a small city with relatively low turnout, the Board emphasized that this would translate into a high cost per voter—resources that might have a greater impact if invested instead in outreach, education, language access, and candidate recruitment.

Rather than recommending immediate adoption of RCV, the Board proposes a sequenced, evidence-based approach. This includes focusing first on strategies that are likely to deliver higher returns for local democracy, such as improving voter awareness, strengthening election communications, increasing participation, and building a stronger pipeline of candidates. The Board also outlined clear, measurable conditions—such as higher contestation rates and improved voter readiness—that could trigger a future reevaluation of ranked choice voting if and when those conditions are met.

During the Worksession, the City Council will consider options that include formally receiving the Board’s report, supporting the Board’s proposed focus on higher-impact election improvements, and requesting follow-up recommendations on additional reforms to strengthen civic engagement. No vote to adopt ranked choice voting is scheduled.

This discussion reflects College Park’s commitment to thoughtful governance, data-driven decision-making, and responsible stewardship of public resources. By grounding the conversation in local experience rather than national trends alone, the City is working to ensure that any future changes to our election system truly serve residents, enhance trust, and strengthen participation in our local democracy.