World
What is ranked-choice voting and how does it work in US elections?
Ranked-choice voting in Alaska could shape a key 2026 race, amid a US lawsuit involving two candidates named Dan Sullivan.
Al Jazeera•
In Alaska, a controversy is unfolding over whether two Senate candidates with roughly the same name will cancel each other out.
The debate has shone a spotlight on a relatively uncommon style of voting in the United States: a system known as “ranked choice”.
Only two states in the United States — Alaska and Maine — employ ranked-choice voting throughout their territory, though major cities like New York have also embraced the practice.
Unlike a traditional runoff election, which requires voters to return to the polls, ranked-choice voting can determine a winner through successive rounds of counting in a single election.