Running toward rankings: Ranked choice voting's impact on candidate entry and descriptive representation

Abstract

Does the implementation of a ranked choice voting (RCV) system increase the number, diversity, and quality of candidates competing in local elections? Using original data from 273 cities across three decades and employing a preregistered difference-in-differences design with matching, I find that the size of the candidate pool increases following implementation. However, this effect dissipates in later election cycles, indicating that RCV has no long-term effect on candidate entry. Indeed, the short-term increase in the candidate pool mostly reflects increased entry by low-quality candidates with little chance of winning. Additionally, I find that RCV has no effect on the proportion of female and non-white candidates running for office. These results call into question several purported benefits of RCV and suggest that RCV, by itself, might not be sufficient to influence candidate entry at the local level.