R Street Testimony in Support of VA HB 630, Expanding Ranked-Choice Voting

Testimony from:
Robert Melvin, Northeast Region Director, R Street Institute

In SUPPORT of House Bill 630, “Elections; ranked choice voting; locally elected office, report.”

February 9, 2026

House Privileges and Elections Committee, Election Administration Subcommittee

Chairwoman Glass and Members of the Committee,

My name is Robert Melvin, and I am the Northeast region director at the R Street Institute, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy organization. Our mission at RSI is to engage in research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government in many areas, election and voting reform. This is why we are supportive of HB 630.

With a focus on voter-centered improvements, the R Street Institute promotes changes that strengthen election participation while maintaining confidence in democratic processes. HB 630 would expand the use ranked-choice voting beyond county boards of supervisors and city councils, and would repeal Virginia’s sunset provision for the state law authorizing ranked-choice voting.[1]

Ranked-choice voting empowers voters to convey a more complete set of preferences, resulting in representation that better reflects the electorate’s will. The ability to express support for several candidates ensures voters’ choices still count, even when their first preference does not prevail. With a majority threshold in place, more voters can reasonably feel that their vote played a role in electing the winner.[2]

In 2020, state lawmakers in Virginia approved HB 1103, granting local governments the authority to use ranked-choice voting.[3] However, the statute applied only to county and city contests, leaving out important local elections such as town councils. The measure refines state law without altering its permissive nature, leaving the decision to adopt ranked-choice voting up to local governments. The key change in this proposal is eliminating the 2031 expiration date for the RCV pilot program.

While some people worry that implementing a new system will confuse voters, the R Street Institute’s research suggests that voters can navigate ranked-choice voting without difficulty. Our findings suggest that, rather than avoiding it, voters will actively use the ability to rank candidates—particularly during primary contests.[4] The 2021 nomination of Governor Glenn Youngkin by Virginia Republicans demonstrates how RCV can be successfully implemented. [5] Importantly, voters who prefer not to rank multiple candidates can still choose just a single option.

The proposal does not introduce a novel voting method in Virginia. Instead, it makes technical adjustments to state statute by extending the use of ranked-choice voting to other local government elections, such as for town council. For these reasons, I urge you to support HB 630.

Thank you,

Robert Melvin
Northeast Region State Government Affairs Director
R Street Institute
rmelvin@rstreet.org

[1] Virginia General Assembly, 2026 Legislative Session, House Bill 630, Last accessed February 8, 2026. https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB630.

[2] Matthew Germer, “Restoring Losers’ Consent: A Necessary Step To Stabilizing Our Democracy,” R Street Policy Study No. 240, September 2021. https://www.rstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Final-No.-240.pdf.

[3] Code of Virginia, “§ 24.2-673.1. (Expires July 1, 2031) Ranked choice voting,” Virginia Law, last accessed Jan. 24, 2023. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/24.2-673.1.

[4] Matthew Germer, “An Analysis of Ranked Choice Voting in Maine,” R Street Shorts No. 106, September 2021. https://www.rstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Final-Short-106.pdf.

[5] Trip Gabriel, “Glenn Younkin Wins G.O.P. Nomination for Virginia Governor,” The New York Times, May 10, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/us/politics/glenn-youngkin-virginia-governor-republicans.html.