STATELINE (THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS, PHILADELPHIA) -- Jason McDaniel, a professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University, said highly educated, progressive voters in urban areas are most likely to embrace election changes such as ranked-choice voting. The system also may be especially appealing to Democrats because ideological differences among them often lead to crowded primaries.
McDaniel said Republicans are more likely to view elections through an “integrity” prism, and therefore are more focused on voter identification laws and purging registration rolls.
However, McDaniel said, “there’s nothing inherently liberal or progressive about ranked-choice voting,” and conservatives may come to embrace it because it saves money on runoff elections.