When electing a single candidate — like a race for Mayor, all first choices are tallied. If a candidate wins a majority among the first-choice votes, that candidate is the winner.

If not, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. The second choices from those ballots are then added to the remaining candidates. This process continues until one candidate receives a majority of the final votes. Learn more about “Single-Winner Ranked Choice Voting.”

Ranked Choice Voting works equally well when there are multiple seats to fill. The threshold for winning is adjusted depending on the number of seats to fill and a similar process of eliminating and electing candidates through rounds of counting occurs until all the seats are filled. Learn more about “Multi-Winner Ranked Choice Voting."