Wisconsin lawmakers have fielded scores of proposed changes to the state’s election laws in recent years, owing to the state’s status as a political battleground.
But rarely has that debate centered on changing what many voters have long taken for granted: a ballot where Wisconsinites select one candidate, fill in one oval and leave it at that.
Now, legislators are considering a proposal in which Wisconsin would join a rising number of state and local governments that are embracing ranked-choice voting or related electoral reforms.
“This should have more bipartisan support, because it is something that should, at least theoretically, help improve the voting process and be a better reflection of what voters' true intentions are,” said David Canon, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The idea, called final five voting, would do away with partisan primaries for congressional races, instead seeing the top five candidates, regardless of party, advancing to the general election.
At that point, voters would rank the candidates in order of preference. If one of the candidates gets a majority of the first-place ballots, they would be the winner.
If not, the last-place candidate would be eliminated and those who supported that person would have their votes go to their second-ranked candidate. That process would continue until there is a candidate that does receive majority support.
The bipartisan bill mirrors the system that was established in Alaska in 2020 and which was used for the first time there in a high-profile congressional race in 2022.
But some in that state want to jettison their system. And in a contentious electoral environment in Wisconsin, the bill has run into considerable opposition from those who worry it lacks transparency and could confuse voters.
Can changing the fundamental format of Wisconsin’s elections serve as a balm for an increasingly divided state?
“The status quo is not serving us and we need change,” said state Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, one of the bill’s co-authors. “Final five voting is a start.”
Advocates want to see change in partisan primary process
Crucially, the reforms outlined in the proposed legislation would apply only to congressional elections, not presidential elections, races for statewide offices like governor or attorney general or races for state legislative seats.
At least one member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay, has endorsed a move to final five in the past, painting it as a way of sidelining extremist voices and promoting cooperation in the halls of Congress.
But others remain skeptical of it on a statewide level.
Matt Handverger, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Vermont, noted that Pocan introduced measures while serving in the state Assembly to allow municipalities to use ranked-choice voting for local elections and said he would rather see the reform introduced that way.
Pocan “feels that forcing ranked choice statewide on a different branch of government when it hasn’t been tested is not the best way to go,” Handverger wrote in an email. “Smaller experiments allow us to see if this is a viable option in Wisconsin.”
U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Greenbush, registered in opposition to the measure during the committee hearing last week. Spokespeople for all other members of Wisconsin's congressional delegation did not respond when asked what they thought of the idea.
But one individual who is certainly in favor of it is Reid Ribble, who spent six years in Congress representing northeast Wisconsin and the Fox Valley.
Ribble and other proponents of final five argue that a contentious, partisan primary process results in extremists in both parties making their way to the general election.
The threat of a primary challenge, meanwhile, means that members of Congress will be polarized, without an incentive to work together.
“My colleagues in Congress were afraid they might have to face someone in a primary,” Ribble told the state Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection last week.
While Alaska is the only state in the country to use the final five process, a handful of other states have nonpartisan primaries, in which all candidates are lumped into one race, with the top two vote-getters advancing.
Research is mixed on whether or not this leads to more moderate candidates, however.
A 2017 study examining the implementation of nonpartisan primaries in California and Washington found limited evidence of moderation, though it noted this could have resulted from other factors as well, such as redistricting. More recent research is much more optimistic about the potential for decreasing polarization.
Opponents of ranked-choice voting seek to ban it in Wisconsin
But it is the general election format, involving ranked-choice voting, where the most strident objections have been raised.
Maine and Alaska use ranked-choice voting for all elections statewide. Over 50 cities across the United States also use the system in local elections.
Proponents argue the system has numerous benefits, allowing residents to confidently vote for their favorite candidate even if that person has a low chance of winning.
They also argue it forces candidates to campaign on broadly popular ideas, seeking to appeal to as many voters as possible rather than to a narrow segment of their base. That’s all in an effort to get voters to rank that candidate as their second choice.
“Folks say to me, ‘My vote doesn't count, why should I participate?’ If voters don't believe their vote matters then why should they be a part of this?” state Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick, a co-author of Wisconsin bill, told legislators. “If we do not have a diverse and participatory electorate then we will not have true representative democracy that represents all of us, the people.”
But Bruce Poliquin says he knows first-hand the frustrations of ranked-choice voting.
In 2018, Poliquin was the sitting Republican congressman from Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. On election night, he led his Democratic challenger, Jared Golden, by about 2,000 votes but lacked support from a majority of voters.
Under a conventional system, Poliquin would have been named the winner. But the bulk of independent voters had Golden as their second choice, helping him prevail under the ranked-choice model. Poliquin sued unsuccessfully, arguing that ranked-choice voting was unconstitutional.
But he told Wisconsin lawmakers Tuesday that there are still a range of problems with the system, including the risk of confusing voters, particularly the elderly, who might simply decide not to return their absentee ballot if they don’t understand the system.
“This is something that's brought in by outside special interest groups,” Poliquin said. “It does not help anybody.”
Critics of ranked-choice voting argue that a voter must rank every candidate in order to guarantee their vote is tallied, though backers of the system say it is no different than a voter casting their ballot for an independent candidate who is not one of the top two vote-getters.
Still, many of the citizens and advocacy groups, including several from across the United States who opposed final five, instead urged legislators to take up a separate constitutional amendment circulated by four GOP legislators to ban ranked-choice voting in Wisconsin.
“Any voting system that by design throws out valid votes should be prohibited,” said Madeline Malisa, a lobbyist with Opportunity Solutions Project, a free-market think tank. “That's un-American.”
Does ranked-choice voting work?
UW-Madison's Canon said there is mixed evidence on whether ranked-choice voting in Maine and Alaska delivers on its aims.
One study found that New York’s 2021 mayoral race, which was the first in the city to use ranked-choice voting, was more respectful than in years past, as campaigns didn’t want to risk offending backers of other candidates and possibly lose second- or third-place support. Other research finds possible benefits for voters and candidates of color.
There is evidence that introducing a ranked-choice system can confuse voters, though advocates believe this can be combated by a robust education campaign. One report found a drop in voter participation in the first two local elections after switching to ranked-choice voting.
In Alaska, partisan opposition to Democrat U.S. Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola’s defeat of Republican Sarah Palin using the ranked-choice system has led to calls to scrap the model entirely. Others argue the fact that Sattler Peltola’s triumph over Palin, believed to be a more extreme candidate, underscores the value of ranked-choice voting.
There is some polling indicating that Alaskans might be interested in repealing the ranked-choice system. But Canon noted that more time is needed to fully evaluate the impact of ranked-choice voting in that state.
“We just don't have a long enough timeline yet to really know for sure,” he said.
