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hi, it’s me, social choice nerd calling in!!! For anyone following the NYC dem primary: ranked-choice voting (RCV) lets voters rank candidates in order of preference, redistributing votes until one candidate achieves a majority. It’s used statewide in Maine and Alaska, and in over 50 U.S. cities (including SF!) NYC adopted it for the dem primary to reflect broader support, reduce negative campaigning, and reflect diverse voter preferences. There are some criticisms! Mainly, complexity. There are also some failure modes. For example the “center squeeze” is when a moderate candidate who could beat either extreme candidate individually is eliminated early because they aren’t enough voters’ top choice. Their votes redistribute to more polarized candidates, ironically resulting in a less broadly acceptable winner. It’s rare in practice when you look the academic literature. ah, the field studying voting systems is “social choice” theory. math and politics’ weird love-child, dedicated to figuring out how to fairly pick pizza toppings when everyone disagrees