On May 14, 2025, the Boston, Massachusetts city council voted 8-4 to approve a home rule petition to adopt ranked-choice voting (RCV) for city elections. The petition needs approval from Mayor Michelle Wu (D), who said she would sign the measure, before it goes to the state legislature for consideration. If passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Maura Healey (D), the petition would appear before the city’s voters for final consideration.

City elections would begin using RCV no earlier than one year after voters approve the proposal. The plan would permit voters to rank up to four candidates per office under the system. 

Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, who introduced the petition, said, “This is about making sure that we are building a better democracy by electing candidates who are able to build a broad majority of support, who are not just speaking to their base, who are not just speaking to extremists, but who are doing the work necessary to build broad coalitions, and to represent everyone in a district.” She added, “I think it’s always the right time to be working on democratic reform and how we improve our democracy.”

Opponents of the measure said that the change would cause confusion among voters and create unnecessary challenges for election administrators. Councilor Edward Flynn said, “The Election Department pretty much told me that they don’t want to see this implemented. … They don’t believe now is the time to make such a dramatic, significant change to how people vote.”

Councilor Erin Murphy said, “Adding Ranked Choice Voting would introduce unnecessary complexity to the process, confusing voters and potentially disenfranchising those already marginalized, particularly seniors and residents whose first language isn’t English.” Councilor Julia Mejia, who supported the petition, disagreed, saying, “Immigrants are not dolts—they can learn a new voting system.” 

Eight of the United States’ largest 100 cities use or are scheduled to use RCV for their city elections: Oakland and San Francisco in California; Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota; New York, New York; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. D.C. was the most recent major city to opt for the system when voters approved Initiative 83 72.9% to 27.1% in 2024, while Portland was the most recent to implement RCV, using it for city elections for the first time in 2024 after voters approved Measure 26-228 in 2022. 

Momentum to adopt RCV at the local level contrasts with national trends, where opponents of RCV have carried momentum from 2024 state legislative sessions into 2025. So far this year, five states—Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have adopted legislation banning RCV statewide, bringing the total number of states that prohibit RCV to 16. Six states banned RCV in 2024. Florida and Tennessee were the first states to ban RCV, doing so in 2022, and 14 of the 16 states to ban the electoral system did so with a Republican trifecta in control of state government. 

Editor’s note: Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect that eight of the United States’ largest 100 cities now use or are scheduled to use ranked-choice voting (RCV) for their city elections. The previous version stated six cities and did not include Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota.