Washington Post’s Editorial Board comes out in favor of RCV, arguing it is working well in both Alaska and Maine to select more moderate candidates that are more likely to reflect the preferences of electoral majorities, and that it is not confusing:

“Ranked-choice voting continues to work in Alaska. It would everywhere else, too.”Apart from accusations that it favors Democrats, which haven’t been borne out, the biggest knock on RCV is that it’s too confusing for people to rank candidates. But studies show that virtually all ballots cast in RCV elections are valid, with error rates similar to those of traditional elections. Usually, after trying it once, people become more comfortable with ranking candidates when they realize that they don’t need to vote strategically, worrying about throwing away their vote by supporting as their first choice someone who is unlikely to win.”

I do wonder how well RCV would transfer to larger, less rural states. Alaska and Maine are certainly not representative, and neither is subject to the same national forces as, say, Pennsylvania.