Understanding Ranked Choice Voting 2.0

TL;DR

Feature Focus: Issue Based Guides

Students will evaluate various mayoral candidate positions on the Youth Civic Hub’s Issue Based Guides and participate in a mock election. Students will explore how Ranked Choice Voting influences public policy and representation on key issues.

Objective

Critical Thinking: Understand how different voting systems affect election representation and outcomes.
Research: Utilize the Issue-Based Guides to evaluate candidate positions on education, economy, climate justice, reproductive rights, and gun control
Data Collection and Interpretation: Simulate an election and apply ranked choice voting procedures to reach outcomes
Communication: Explore civic identity by writing and speaking about individual stances on political issues
Civic Literacy & Engagement: Partake in a mock election to foster public

Materials needed

Device with access to the Internet

Projector or whiteboard

Rank Choice Voting Handout 2.0

Instructions

Discussion and Power Map Exploration (10 mins)

See Handout Examine NYC’s 2025 mayoral race, either as a class or in tables

Who is currently in office serving as mayor? Refer to the Power Map exploration from the previous lesson.
Who are some of the candidates who want to be the next mayor?
What does this elected official have the power to do?

Activity

See Handout Access Youth Civic Hub’s Issue Based Guides and have students explore candidates’ parties and stances. Write your answers to the following questions:

Which candidates align with your stance on these issues?
How will ranked choice voting affect the results of this election compared to single-choice voting? Have students rank 5 candidates in order of preference in an RCV simulator survey or Google Forms

Debrief (10 mins)

See handout Show the results of student votes

Ask: is more than one round is necessary to reach results (Answer will be Yes/No because candidate received/did not receive more than 50% of votes)

Would the results of the election differ in a single-vote election?

Relevant Standards

NY State Grades 9-12 Social Studies Framework

Civic Participation: Fulfill social and political responsibilities associated with citizenship in a democratic society and interdependent global community by developing awareness of and/or engaging in the political process.
Civic Participation: Work to influence those in positions of power to strive for extensions of freedom, social justice, and human rights.
Civic Participation: Identify, describe, and contrast the roles of the individual in opportunities for social and political participation in different societies.

NYS Social Studies Standards - Commencement.

Explore how citizens influence public policy in a representative democracy.
Participate as informed citizens in the political justice system and processes of the United States, including voting.
Participate in school/classroom/community activities that focus on an issue or problem.

Interactive Activities

Rank Choice Voting Hand out 2.0

Handout focusing on Rank choice voting