# Plain Language Summary: Preventing Ranked Choice Corruption Act

This bill would ban ranked choice voting in all federal elections—meaning elections for President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, a few states like Maine and Alaska use ranked choice voting, which lets voters rank candidates by preference (first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on). If no candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, the system eliminates the candidate with the fewest votes and redistributes those voters' second choices, continuing until someone wins. This bill would make that system illegal for federal elections starting in 2026.

The practical effect is straightforward: states that currently use ranked choice voting for federal races would have to switch back to the traditional system where you pick one candidate and whoever gets the most votes wins. This would apply immediately to the 2026 midterm elections and all federal elections after that. States could still use ranked choice voting for state and local elections if they wanted to, but not for choosing members of Congress or the President.

The bill's supporters argue ranked choice voting is confusing and could lead to problems, while critics say it actually gives voters more choice and can reduce the influence of extreme candidates. The debate essentially comes down to whether you think ranked choice voting improves elections or complicates them. Either way, if this bill passes, voters in states currently using this system would see their federal ballots change back to the simpler one-vote format they may have used before.

Preventing Ranked Choice Corruption Act

Hamadeh, Abraham J.

Preventing Ranked Choice Corruption ActThis bill prohibits states from using ranked-choice voting in federal elections. Ranked-choice voting is a system that allows voters to rank multiple candidates on a ballot in order of preference.