Alaska and Maine use ranked-choice voting for federal elections; New York City adopted it for local primaries. Proponents say it ends the spoiler effect. Critics say multi-round ballot counting confuses voters and can elect a candidate most voters ranked second. Two debaters, opposing sides — you score who makes the stronger case.
Friday, September 11, 2026 · 7:00 PM EDT
What's at stake
RCV could end the "lesser of two evils" dynamic that defines American elections. Or it could produce winners most voters actively opposed, while making vote-counting so complex that confidence in results collapses.
The Matchup
Debater: To be announced
Debater: To be announced
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“The spoiler effect — where a third-party candidate splits the vote with the ideologically closer major-party candidate and elects the one both disliked most — is a structural defect in plurality voting. Ralph Nader in 2000, Ross Perot in 1992, and dozens of state-level races show this. RCV eliminates it mathematically: your second choice activates only if your first is eliminated.”
“Alaska adopted RCV in 2022 and elected Mary Peltola, ending 50 years of Republican dominance in its House seat. Post-election surveys showed voters understood the system and approval of the process was high. The claim that RCV confuses voters is not supported by the evidence from jurisdictions that have adopted it.”
“RCV violates majority rule: the Condorcet paradox shows that in certain vote distributions, it's possible to elect a candidate who would lose head-to-head against any individual opponent. "Exhausted ballots" — where a voter's rankings are all eliminated before the final round — mean not all voters participate equally in the final decision.”
“New York City's 2021 mayoral primary under RCV saw weeks of counting, multiple erroneous results, and a final outcome that differed from initial results — creating widespread public confusion about who won. Election administrators in smaller counties lack the software and training to run RCV reliably; scaling it federally would require massive infrastructure investment.”
The Format
Standard SuperDebate: two people, cross-examination, moderated from start to finish.
4 min · PRO · opening case
4 min · CON questions PRO
4 min · CON · opening case
4 min · PRO questions CON
3 min · PRO
3 min · CON
3 min · PRO · final case
3 min · CON · final case
— · You pick the winner
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Friday, September 11, 2026 · 7:00 PM EDT
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