(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A leading political scientist in Illinois has co-authored an extensive study of “ranked choice voting,” also known as “instant runoff voting.”

Brian Gaines, the Hon. W. Russell Arrington professor in political science at the University of Illinois, says while it may be oversimplifying to say this, his survey results skew Democratic.

“It’s even more clear when you look at, not at the general public’s voting, but the legislators themselves,” said Gaines. “A number of states, just in the last four or so years, have put in bans on ranked choice voting. But several states have passed laws or constitutional amendments saying that they can’t use ranked choice voting.”

Gaines, who is attached to the university’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs, says the idea’s time may have come and gone – or maybe it’s before its time.

“In 2022, it looked like Nevada was going to join Maine and Alaska as the states that were using ranked choice,” says Gaines, “but by 2024, Nevada had to vote twice to pass it, and the second vote failed, and then a whole bunch of other states voted against implementing ranked choice.”

Voters in this system put down their first, second, and third choices, and so on. If nobody gets a majority, it’s an instant runoff. Evanston, Skokie, and Oak Park have leaned toward this for municipal elections, but that’s tied up in the courts.