Recently, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) act was introduced to Congress which threatens to overhaul Georgia's voting system. This bill mandates a large numbers of updates for our federal elections and one among many would ban Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). This would have massive affects on Georgia in ways you might not expect.

In 2021, Georgia passed the Elections Integrity Act which updated Georgia elections. A subtle but important item in the big bill actually instituted ranked choice voting for Georgia's military and overseas voters. Overseas voters are mailed two absentee ballots at once, one regular and one ranked choice. In the event of a runoff election, the ranked choice ballot is opened to determine the voter's next choice in the runoff election. Because we get ballots faster, we certify elections faster. This upgrade reduced our election cycle shortening runoff elections from 9 weeks after the general election down to 4 weeks. Ranked Choice Voting is really a more efficient form of our current runoff system.

If the MEGA Act is passed as is, this benefit from ranked choice voting would be undone. Georgia would be forced by the federal government to go back to our 9 week runoffs. The state would be forced to mail ballots separately and wait for weeks to receive and count them. Elections would stretch through Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is not good for Georgia and not good for Georgia voters. You can read more commentary on the implications of the MEGA Act for Georgia in this article by Scott Morefield.

If this system works so well for our soldiers, why are we talking about banning it instead of giving it to everyone? Expanding RCV for all voters would let Georgia get rid of runoffs, keep majority rule, and decide winners on election night.

To date, Better Ballot Georgia is not aware of any complaints against the ranked choice system for military and overseas voters. The system appears to be working well.

To learn more about RCV, visit our explainer page.