Better Government Association in Chicago Cites Professor McDaniel's Research on Ranked-Choice Voting

BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION (CHICAGO) -- While ranked-choice voting improves voter turnout in some cases, it isn’t necessarily improving turnout across all demographics. Dr. Jason McDaniel, a professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University, analyzed RCV’s impact on voter turnout rates by demographic. He examined San Francisco mayoral elections from 1995 to 2011 (the city switched to RCV in 2007). McDaniel found that RCV decreased turnout among Black and white voters, voters with lower than a high school education and younger voters. He also found a correlation between incorrectly marked ballots and foreign-born voters and voters whose primary language was something other than English.