Ranked choice voting, in which voters rank candidates on a ballot rather than choose one, may harm black and Native American voters disproportionately, according to a new study by a Princeton University professor.
Minority candidates also may be undercut by ranked choice voting, said Nolan McCarty, a professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs and vice dean for academic assessment.
McCarty did the study for the Center for Election Confidence, previously known as the Lawyers Democracy Fund, which says it is the first academic study of the subject by a mainstream, nonpartisan source.
The study determined that with ranked choice voting, African American voters in New York City and Alaska Natives were most likely to have their votes disqualified in later rounds of counting at a higher rate than white voters,…
