Share our Resources for Charter Amendments with Charter Review Commissions and City Councils:

Background: For more than a century, Ohio’s charter cities have exercised their Home Rule Authority under the Ohio Constitution to choose how they elect their own leaders. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that this includes charter cities’ right to use Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), as several Ohio cities have done.  RCV is recommended as a best practice by the National Civic League’s Model City Charter and by the League of Women Voters of Ohio as a more truly free and fair alternative to our current pick-one plurality-wins system. RCV has been used successfully in many jurisdictions and has become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to give voters more choices while upholding majority rule.

About Ranked Choice Voting: RCV is a simple upgrade to our ballots that empowers voters to rank multiple candidates instead of choosing only one. An Instant Runoff ensures the winner has majority support in single-winner races such as mayor or ward seats, and RCV enables Proportional Representation for multi-winner races such as council-at-large.

Benefits of RCV: RCV allows more candidates to run without fear of being labeled a ‘spoiler.’ RCV gives voters the freedom to vote for their true first choice without fear of ‘wasting’ their vote or helping the candidate they like least. This strengthens election integrity by giving voters more choices and more confidence that their votes will actually matter. RCV incentivizes politicians to run more civil campaigns and work together for the common good in order to win broad support.

Recent Efforts in Ohio Cities: 

• Cleveland Heights: RCV was recommended by their Charter Review Commission (CRC) in 2024 and is still under consideration by their Council for if/when they will put an amendment on the ballot. Cleveland Heights' language for RCV is in Section 7.6 of this broader charter amendment (page 3). Their CRC also provided research and analysis in support of their amendment in this report.
• Lakewood: RCV was recommended by their CRC in 2024 and is still under consideration by their Council for if/when they will put an amendment on the ballot. ​​Lakewood's language for RCV is in Article 9 in Exhibit F of their CRC's Final Report (starting in section d on page 16). Rather than mandating RCV, Lakewood's CRC crafted their amendment to give their Council the option to implement RCV via ordinance (as explained starting on page 8 of their report).
• Cincinnati: The Charter Committee of Cincinnati, an independent organization founded in 1924 to advocate for good government, is exploring a 2025 ballot initiative to bring RCV back to Cincinnati.
• Hudson, Kent, & Stow: These three neighboring cities each convened their CRCs in 2025 and are exploring charter amendments for RCV.
• Riverside: A majority of Council voted to put a charter amendment for RCV on the ballot in 2024, however they fell short of the necessary supermajority.
• University Heights: RCV was recommended by their CRC in 2023 but did not receive enough Council votes to proceed to the ballot.

Resources for Charter Language: In addition to examples from the cities above, our national partner FairVote has model charter language. FairVote’s Legal Roundtable is available as a free resource to review draft language so that they can provide feedback based on their experience assisting other cities.

Barriers to RCV: RCV has historically faced opposition from party bosses on both sides who seek to suppress competition. Their main argument is that voters are not smart enough to rank their choices, but this concern has been debunked by the vast majority of voters who have used RCV because they say RCV is “simple” and want to keep using it. Putting a charter amendment for RCV on the ballot simply empowers voters to decide if they are ready to rank their choices.

Responding to State-Level Ban Bills: Politicians from deep red and deep blue districts have introduced legislation attempting to ban RCV, however, analysts have pointed out that such legislation is unlikely to pass or to withstand legal challenges because it violates the Ohio Constitution by stealing Local Government Funds in attempt to coerce cities to give up their Home Rule Authority.

Responding to Boards of Elections: Since 2023, Rank the Vote Ohio has worked with the Ohio Association of Election Officials to offer itself and its national partners such as FairVote and the RCV Resource Center to help Ohio’s Boards of Elections adapt to RCV as they have in other states. As of 2025, all voting equipment used in Ohio is already being used to implement RCV in cities in other states. Election officials have confirmed that if a charter city passes an amendment for RCV, the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners will begin the certification process for RCV-capable software, with costs covered by the state.

About Us: Rank the Vote Ohio is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit founded in 2020 by volunteers from across Ohio to educate fellow Buckeyes about RCV. Through in-person and online outreach, we mobilize volunteers from across the political spectrum in support of “greater choice, a stronger voice, and a representative democracy that works for all Ohioans.” Our Ohio-based nonprofit is part of Rank the Vote’s national coalition working to lay the groundwork for local and statewide initiatives for RCV. As of 2025, we’ve gained more than 21,000 registered supporters in Ohio.

Contact: Rank the Vote Ohio gives free presentations and consultations. To learn more, email our Leadership Team at [email protected].