Alli Adams
This year, Fort Collins voters will use ranked voting for mayor and City Council elections for the first time, following approval of a 2022 charter amendment. Unlike traditional elections, in which the candidate with the most votes wins regardless of majority, ranked voting allows residents to express preferences for multiple candidates. The system transforms the election from a simple tally into an algorithmic elimination process.
The charter amendment that approved ranked voting was part of a broader national conversation about improving electoral fairness and giving voters more choice, especially in cities experiencing growth and increasingly competitive local races.
“In ranked voting, instead of a voter simply selecting their No. 1 candidate, they have an opportunity, essentially, to express their preferences for everybody on the ballot,” said Matthew Hitt, an associate professor of political science. “The idea here is that you give people more of an opportunity to express what kind of representation they’re looking for.”
The method Fort Collins is using is instant runoff voting, a ranked-choice scheme in which voters rank all candidates in order of preference. Ballots are then counted in rounds: first-choice votes are tallied, and if no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Ballots for eliminated candidates are then transferred to each voter’s next-ranked choice, and this stepwise elimination continues until a candidate secures a majority.
Mathematically, IRV functions as an iterative elimination algorithm; at each step, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed and their ballots redistributed, producing a dynamic, multi-round computation of voter preferences. For example, Fort Collins has seven candidates running for mayor, and voters can rank as many as they choose. The system ensures that the eventual winner represents a broad base of support rather than just a simple plurality.
“If your No. 1 choice doesn’t get a majority … of the seven candidates, the clerk’s office will eliminate the candidate with the least votes,” Hitt said. “Everyone who had that candidate No. 1, now their No. 2 choice gets a vote … until one of the candidates has a majority — 50% plus one.”
Ranked voting encourages voters to engage with the full field of candidates.
“If you want your vote to really count, I encourage … citizens to cast a vote to rank everybody,” Hitt said. “Rank everybody only once and use every rank only once. … You can’t skip.”
The extra effort required aims to broaden the diversity of candidates who can run competitively and gives voters a chance to support their true first choice without fear of wasting a vote.
The method isn’t unique to Fort Collins. Cities such as Aspen, Colorado, and New York City and states like Maine and Alaska have experimented with ranked voting to see if it allows third-party or alternative candidates a stronger foothold in elections. Hitt cautioned, however, that the evidence for this effect is still limited.
“It’s really early in the process; … there’s no silver bullets; there’s no panaceas,” Hitt said. “You can’t just push one button and say, ‘And now politics is fixed.’”
Alongside potential benefits, ranked voting introduces trade-offs. A study by Hitt’s colleagues, including Kyle Saunders, showed that ranked voting can depress voter participation. The system is cognitively more taxing; voters must research multiple candidates and determine a preference order. Voters must familiarize themselves with each candidate’s policies, priorities and public record and then carefully decide the order of preference, a process that can take significantly more time than simply selecting a single candidate.
“Voting is, in one sense, a costly act,” Hitt said. “You have to work harder — like, heck, I don’t know who all these seven people running for mayor are,” Hitt said. “You have to do your homework.”
This could lead to lower participation, particularly among younger, less-educated or lower-income voters.
Hitt said that simply ranking a single candidate is permitted, but it doesn’t fully leverage the system’s potential. Fully participating in ranked voting requires taking time to research multiple candidates, understand their platforms and thoughtfully order one’s preferences — tasks that can be unfamiliar or intimidating for first-time voters.
“You can just rank one candidate No. 1; … that’s fine,” Hitt said. “Just know that you aren’t getting the full expression of your political power if you’re not ranking all the candidates.”
He even suggested turning the research into a social activity: hosting “ballot parties” to discuss candidates, divide research responsibilities and complete ballots together.
Socializing the ballot process mirrors principles from political science and psychology. Discussion can clarify preferences, reduce decision fatigue and foster a sense of shared civic responsibility. By combining social interaction with the voting process, students can make the act of preparing a ranked ballot less daunting while also engaging more deeply with the issues at stake.
“Talking about civic issues with other people is a fabulous way of participating in our democracy,” Hitt said. “It’s an underappreciated one. … It is going to be more work for students. I’m 100% serious in recommending the ballot party. I think it’s worth trying.”
Ranked voting reframes elections as more than just a numbers game. It’s a computational process built to ensure broader representation, but it demands more engagement from voters and thoughtful preparation. In Fort Collins, the system may operate smoothly, yet the experiment will test how citizens balance the cognitive costs of voting with the promise of a more expressive democracy. The results of Fort Collins’ first ranked election will offer an early glimpse into how voters navigate the system and whether IRV can deliver the representative outcomes its designers hope for.
Reach Maci Lesh at science@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.