CT SB00386

Effective January 1, 2028, political parties may adopt ranked-choice voting (RCV) for primaries, caucuses, and conventions for single-winner offices; presidential preference primaries may use RCV starting April 4, 2028.

Municipalities may adopt RCV by charter or ordinance for municipal elections where voters elect one candidate to an office, with implementation beginning January 1, 2028.

Under RCV, voters rank candidates in order of preference; if no candidate wins a majority, the lowest-vote candidate is eliminated and their votes transfer to voters' next choices until one candidate remains.

The Secretary of State must prescribe ballot types, instructions, and layout for RCV elections, and may limit ranking to no fewer than five candidates if ballot space is insufficient.

Party rules may allocate presidential primary delegates based on RCV round-by-round results, with candidates needing at least 15% of votes received by active candidates to qualify for delegate allocation.