Why Philadelphia isn’t likely to get ranked-choice voting anytime soon
Here’s what you need to know about why Philadelphia doesn’t use ranked-choice ballots, and what it would take to adopt the approach.

New York City voters cast ranked-choice ballots in last month’s high-profile mayoral primary. Ranked-choice voting is an alternative to the winner-take-all method most commonly used in U.S. elections and, in recent years, it has gained popularity in progressive cities. But in Philadelphia, it’s unlikely to come any time soon.
Here’s what you need to know about why Philadelphia doesn’t use ranked-choice ballots, and what it would take to adopt the approach.
How does ranked-choice voting work?
Unlike single-winner contests, ranked-choice voting asks voters to rank multiple candidates in order of preference. Voters’ first choices are counted, and if a candidate captures a majority, that person wins. If not, the candidate with the lowest number of first-choice votes is eliminated, and that person’s supporters’ second choices are counted. The process is repeated until one candidate emerges with a majority.
Sixty-three American jurisdictions use ranked-choice voting, according to Fairvote, a nonpartisan electoral reform organization and lobbying group. New York City adopted the system for primary and special elections in 2019, with a voter-approved amendment to the city charter.
How could ranked-choice voting change Philly elections?
Proponents say the ranked-choice system results in a winner with the broadest appeal by encouraging candidates to reach out to voters beyond their immediate base.
“When we look at our elections, we can see that there are problems,” said Deb Otis, research and policy director at Fairvote. “Our toxic campaign cycles lead to voters feeling unsatisfied and unrepresented.”
Under Philadelphia’s current system, candidates can still eke out a win despite a smaller base of support.
“Your goal isn’t to get a majority,” said Kellan White, a Democratic campaign strategist who managed Rebecca Rhynhart’s second-place campaign for Philadelphia mayor in 2023. “It’s to get to whatever you need to win.”
However, with ranked-choice voting, candidates are incentivized to connect with their opponent’s first-choice supporters, in hopes of still winning a spot on their ballot.
Ranked-choice voting also changes the way campaigns are run, encouraging cross-endorsements and alliances between candidates.
“One of the big benefits that we saw in New York City was that candidates can campaign in a positive way. They can talk about the issues and connect with voters without having to go negative and smear their opponents,” Otis said. “That makes voters more able to tune in, and it sets up candidates to succeed once they’re in office because they have built allies and coalitions instead of making enemies.”
In New York’s mayoral race, progressive candidates Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander cross-endorsed each other, making joint appearances at rallies and on national television. Both candidates called on voters to rank them in the top two spots on their ballots — while leaving Cuomo off their list.
Brendan McPhillips, a Democratic campaign strategist who has managed multiple campaigns in the city, including former City Councilmember Helen Gym’s 2023 mayoral bid, called Mamdani and Lander’s collaboration “unprecedented.”
“You have two people speaking positively of one another and lifting up their ideas for the electorate to consider,” he said.
According to Fairvote, ranked-choice voting may also create a more diverse pool of candidates. A 2024 report published by the organization found that women and candidates of color are more likely to win ranked-choice elections.
“It would make our democracy more participatory,” White said.
Although ranked-choice voting remains relatively niche, a poll sponsored by both Fairvote and the Philadelphia-based civil leadership organization Committee of Seventy showed that 53% of likely mayoral primary voters in 2023 supported the idea of bringing the voting system to Philadelphia. Of those respondents, only 46% said they had heard of ranked-choice before taking the survey.
What would it take to implement ranked-choice voting in Philadelphia?
Making the switch would not be simple. Adopting ranked-choice voting in Philadelphia would require the support of both City Council and the state legislature. Election infrastructure would also need to be adapted.
“People don’t like change, especially when it comes to elections,” said Commissioner Omar Sabir, chair of the Philadelphia Board of Elections.
The last major update to Pennsylvania’s 270-page election code was in 1937. Some amendments have been made in the decades since, but many outdated provisions — like a requirement that all polling places have lanterns — remain.
Introducing a new system can also lead to confusion and misinformation, Sabir said, and moving to ranked-choice voting would require “all hands on deck” for voter education and outreach.
“You wouldn’t want to have voter confusion in a key county and a key swing state in a presidential election,” he said. “If you don’t have appropriate education systems set up for ranked-choice voting, what will happen is you can then disenfranchise potential voters as well.”
However, Rhynhart, the former city controller and 2023 mayoral candidate, is hopeful that these complications could be ironed out.
“New Yorkers have been able to deal with it, so I think Philadelphians could too,” she said.
Could Philadelphia see ranked-choice voting in the near future?
Ranked-choice voting is unlikely to come to Philadelphia any time soon. In 2023, the Pennsylvania General Assembly considered a bill that would amend the election code to allow municipalities to opt into ranked-choice voting. However, the legislation died after being referred to the Senate State Government Committee.
Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, says there’s a “massive list of things that are probably bigger priorities right now.” Along with advocating for ranked-choice voting, the Committee of Seventy has campaigned for mail-in ballot preprocessing and more relaxed requirements for mail-in ballots to be counted.
“This is like funding SEPTA, and we’re talking about Japanese high-speed trains,” Cristella said.
Still, Cristella thinks ranked-choice should remain a part of the conversation in Pennsylvania.
“As with all of these improvements to our election code, it is a matter of political will. There’s no reason we can’t have all of these things we just talked about,” she said. “There are bills sitting in our House of Representatives and with our state Senate that can make our elections more free, fair, safe, and secure, and we just need people to demand that their representatives take these actions.”