Washington, D.C., will hold its first election using ranked-choice voting on June 16, in primary elections for mayor, city council, U.S. House delegate, and other races.

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a system where voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. In the RCV system used in D.C., a candidate who wins a majority of first-preference votes is the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated, and their votes are transferred to the voters’ second-choice candidate. This process continues until a candidate receives a majority of the vote.

In 2024, D.C. voters approved a ballot measure 73%-27% that authorized the use of RCV starting in 2026. In December, the D.C. Council rejected an effort to delay the implementation of RCV until 2027.

Seven races will use the RCV system on June 16. Those include the Democratic primaries for mayor, delegate in the U.S. House, and four city council seats. It will also be used for an independent special election to fill an at-large council spot. RCV is used only when there are three or more candidates on the ballot, meaning the system will not be used in Tuesday’s Republican primaries.

Beyond Tuesday's primary, RCV will also be used for presidential elections, as well as other local offices, including board of education members, attorney general, and advisory neighborhood commissioners.

According to the D.C. Board of Elections, “Final results in ranked choice elections will not be known until all eligible ballots have been received and counted.” This includes mail-in ballots, which in D.C. can be received up to 10 days after the election, provided they were postmarked by election day. 

The Washington Post reported that officials “expect their initial count of second-choice votes will be completed and released by June 21, but it might be earlier than that.”

Nationally, seven states and D.C. have laws that authorize or require the use of RCV. Nineteen states have laws prohibiting or restricting the use of RCV.

Three states — Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine — use RCV for at least some statewide or federal elections. Localities in 13 states where RCV is not used in any statewide elections use or are scheduled to use RCV.

D.C. is the fourth-largest city in the country that uses or is scheduled to use RCV, after New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle.

For more information on ranked-choice voting in the United States, click here. Click here for more information on voting in D.C.’s June 16 primary election.