H.R. 9634: Voter Choice Act

This bill would create a new federal grant program to help state and local governments switch to ranked choice voting for federal, state, or local elections.

What ranked choice voting means

Under ranked choice voting, voters would rank candidates in order of preference instead of choosing just one. If no candidate gets enough votes in the first count, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those votes are redistributed based on voters’ next choices. The process continues in rounds until a winner is chosen. The bill describes this as producing a majority winner in single-winner races and proportional representation in multi-winner races.

What the federal government would do

The bill would direct the Election Assistance Commission to:

• provide technical assistance to states and local governments that are considering or implementing ranked choice voting;
• award grants to help pay for the transition to ranked choice voting;
• support expenses such as voting equipment, vote-counting software, ballot design, voter education materials, and outreach to voters.

How the grants would work

The bill says the commission should try, as much as possible, to give grants to a mix of jurisdictions with different geographic areas, population sizes, and population densities. It also says a grant cannot cover more than 50% of the cost of the activities it funds, so state or local governments would have to pay the rest.

Funding

The bill authorizes $40 million for fiscal year 2027 to carry out this new program. Any money appropriated under this authorization would remain available until it is spent.

Other changes

The bill also makes technical updates to the Help America Vote Act to add the new ranked choice voting program and adjust references in the law so the new subtitle fits into the existing structure.

Relevant Companies

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