Proportional Ranked Choice Voting Hand Count Toolkit
Proportional ranked choice voting (PRCV) is used for multi-winner contests, such as a city council when more than one seat is elected at once. In some jurisdictions, close elections that go to a recount have to be counted by hand which can present a unique challenge for PRCV. Election administrators need detailed plans to conduct any type of hand count and RCV hand counts are no different.
Proportional ranked choice voting (PRCV) is used for multi-winner contests, such as a city council when more than one seat is elected at once. In some jurisdictions, close elections that go to a recount have to be counted by hand which can present a unique challenge for PRCV. Election administrators need detailed plans to conduct any type of hand count and RCV hand counts are no different.
Check out our fact sheet for more information about PRCV and how it works!
In 2024, the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (RCVRC) collaborated with Multnomah County, Oregon, to refine and test their PRCV hand recount process. Our team worked diligently to review and enhance written procedures. The culmination of this effort was a successful weeklong simulation at the Multnomah County Elections Division offices in Portland, Oregon.
Building from the experience in Oregon and hand-count resources created by Arlington, VA, RCVRC created a toolkit to empower advocates and election officials by providing all the necessary materials to conduct a hand count simulation. This toolkit was developed to help explain proportional RCV tabulation and to demonstrate how they can be counted by hand.
The PRCV Hand Count Toolkit simulates a three-seat contest where participants will need to handle a fractional transfer of surplus votes. Participants will hand count 160 ballots for a fictional City Council District 1 contest in the City of Ranked Choice. Instructions for how to complete the hand count are included in this tool. Results were tabulated using RCTab, the free, open-source tabulator tool created by the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center.
How to use this toolkit
The PRCV Hand Count Toolkit is designed around having seven (7) total participants, but it can be modified to have as few as five (5) or as many as nine (9). The toolkit, which can be accessed using the button below, includes everything you need to conduct the hand count simulation. We recommend reading the PRCV Hand Count Instructions first as they provide all the information needed to complete the recount, a list of materials needed to complete the recount (pens, tape, tables, etc.), and descriptions of the roles each participant will play. Ensure you allot enough time to gather the materials and print the relevant documents before beginning the simulation. The person leading the hand count should assign themselves as the Recount Manager and review the Recount Manager’s Guide which will also help them assign the other roles. If you have any questions or want help setting up a hand count, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@rcvresources.org.
Disclaimer: This toolkit is intended for practice and demonstration purposes only. Some aspects of the best practices, such as having a ballot preparation team and ballot organization steps, were deemed unnecessary and trimmed from these instructions to accommodate the small-scale nature of this demonstration. If you need hand count procedures, work with RCV experts and experts in local election administration to develop those procedures. If you are interested in a larger scale demonstration or have any questions, please contact the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center at info@rcvresources.org.