Home - Final Five Voting

Co-Founder Statement

We are founders of the Campaign for Final Five Voting. It’s likely surprising to see our names behind the same political cause because many of us enthusiastically support different candidates, different parties (or no parties) and different policies.   

But, united by our love of country, we find agreements greater than differences. 

Co-Founder Statement

But, united by our love of country, we find agreements greater than differences. 

Americans deserve a system that allows us to live up to the highest promise of our democracy.

The issues we face as a country are complex, and if we want sustainable consensus solutions, members of Congress have to put country ahead of party. The job of legislating is to negotiate and innovate to solve problems, and right now we have a voting system that prevents this from happening.

Americans deserve a system that allows us to live up to the highest promise of our democracy.

November general election voters should choose who represents their states and districts. Winners of Congressional elections should not be a fait-accompli—as they now are far-too-often—after low-turnout primaries held months before the general election.

Competition in any industry drives innovation, results, and accountability. We need those elements in our political system, too.

It is for these reasons we support Final Five Voting—a new system for electing members of Congress—with a name inspired by the competitive excellence of basketball’s March Madness competition.  

Final Five Voting is designed to change what the winners of our elections do—what they have the freedom to do (i.e., reach across the aisle, negotiate, innovate), what they’re incented to do (i.e., solve problems) and on whose behalf they’re doing it (i.e., a majority of November voters). Final Five Voting is strictly non-partisan and is not designed to change who wins (i.e., it is not intended to turn blue districts red or red districts blue).   

We will keep our passions for our favorite candidates, parties, and policies. But we are joining forces to create a playing field that provides for best-of-the-best political competition in our beloved country— competition that will deliver better results for the American people.  

As Founders of the Campaign for Final Five Voting, we are committed to strengthening our democracy and advancing the movement for Final Five Voting. 

With gratitude, 

The Founders of the Campaign for Final Five Voting 

It is for these reasons we support Final Five Voting—a new system for electing members of Congress—with a name inspired by the competitive excellence of basketball’s March Madness competition.  

Final Five Voting is designed to change what the winners of our elections do—what they have the freedom to do (i.e., reach across the aisle, negotiate, innovate), what they’re incented to do (i.e., solve problems) and on whose behalf they’re doing it (i.e., a majority of November voters). Final Five Voting is strictly non-partisan and is not necessarily designed to change who wins (i.e., it is not intended to turn blue districts red or red districts blue).   

We will keep our passions for our favorite candidates, parties, and policies. But we are joining forces to create a playing field that provides for best-of-the-best political competition in our beloved country— competition that will deliver better results for the American people.  

As Founders of the Campaign for Final Five Voting, we are committed to strengthening our democracy and advancing the movement for Final Five Voting. 

With gratitude, 

The Founders of the Campaign for Final Five Voting 

Campaign Co-Founders

Chris Yeh

Blitzscaling Academy

Todd Connor

Veterans for Political Innovation

Austin Ramirez

Democracy Found

Larry Diamond

Hoover Institution

Glenn Nye

The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress

Kent Thiry

Let Colorado Vote

Mindy Finn

Citizen Data

Nick Troiano

Unite America

Timi & John Sobrato

The Sobrato Organization

Cara McCormick

Level the Playing Field

Patrick McGinnis

FOMOSapiens

Jonathan Baron

Baron Public Affairs

Campaign Co-Founders

Play

Chris Yeh, Blitzscaling Academy

Play

Todd Connor, Veterans for Political Innovation

Play

Austin Ramirez, Democracy Found

Play

Larry Diamond, Hoover Institution

Play

Glenn Nye, The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress

Play

Kent Thiry, Let Colorado Vote

Play

Mindy Finn, Citizen Data

Play

Nick Troiano, Unite America

The Sobrato Organization

Cara McCormick

Level the Playing Field

Patrick McGinnis

FOMOSapiens

Jonathan Baron

Baron Public Affairs

What You Need to Know About Final Five Voting

Final Five Voting (FFV) makes two simple changes to our elections for Congress:

Change #1 is replacing party primaries with a single, open preliminary election.

With FFV, when you vote in the preliminary election there’s only one ballot. Every candidate—no matter their party and including third parties and independents—appears on that single ballot. The top five finishers (not just one D and one R) advance to the general election.

Now, with five candidates, we benefit from a dynamic, diverse competition of ideas, visions, candidacies between the primary and the general.

Change #2 replaces plurality voting with instant-runoffs in the general election, to narrow the field of five to the final two and then, of course, the candidate with the majority support wins.

This system is exactly like a series of runoffs, but instead of having to keep coming back to the polls for another election, you cast all your votes at once using a ranked ballot.

Instant-runoffs (IRV) ensure we always elect the candidate with the most appeal to the greatest number of voters. And even more importantly, IRV dramatically lowers barriers to entry by eliminating the spoiler problem.

To summarize, Final Five Voting is the combination of two things:

A single, open preliminary election from which the top five finishers advance to the general, and
Instant runoff general elections to narrow the five candidates the final two at which point majority wins.

Final Five Voting is not designed to change who wins. It’s designed to change what the winners have the freedom to do and are incented to do.

Legislators are incentivized to work across the aisle, deal powerfully with trade-offs, bargain effectively, and deliver consensus solutions to complex challenges.

Legislators are freed from the tyranny of the party primary, making them accountable to the majority of the November electorate, rather than only the narrow slice of voters who participate in party primaries. November general elections will always be competitive, whereas in 2020 the results of 83% of House elections were already determined by the summer party primary.

Barriers to entry are lowered for new and healthy competition. Increased competition through more new entrants incentivized elected officials to better serve their “customers” – the electorate.

We lift the prohibition on consensus and compromise while still maintaining the huge diversity of views, ideologies, candidates that reflect this country. FFV is not about electing moderates – it encourages creative, even fringe, thinking while also allowing elected officials to come together on solutions.

Learn more about the Final Five Voting system here.

Read academic analyses of Final Five Voting here.

Keep up with the news on Final Five Voting here.

What You Need to Know About Final Five Voting

Final Five Voting (FFV) reverses our political system’s perverse incentives into healthy ones, creating a system where our elected leaders are incentivized to put country over party and deliver results in the interest of all Americans.

FFV achieves this through a powerful combination of two changes to our election system:

Open, top-five primaries in which all candidates from any party appear on a single ballot, and all eligible voters can vote regardless of whether they are registered with a party. The top five finishers out of this open primary advance to the general election.
Instant runoff general elections where the field of five is narrowed to the top two and the candidate with the majority support wins.

With Final Five Voting:

Legislators are incentivized to work across the aisle, deal powerfully with trade-offs, bargain effectively, and deliver consensus solutions to complex challenges.

Legislators are freed from the tyranny of the party primary, making them accountable to the majority of the November electorate, rather than only the narrow slice of voters who participate in party primaries. November general elections will always be competitive, whereas in 2020 the results of 83% of House elections were already determined by the summer party primary.

Barriers to entry are lowered for new and healthy competition. Increased competition through more new entrants incentivized elected officials to better serve their “customers” – the electorate.
We lift the prohibition on consensus and compromise while still maintaining the huge diversity of views, ideologies, candidates that reflect this country. FFV is not just about electing moderates, it encourages creative, even fringe, thinking while also allowing elected officials to come together on solutions.

Learn more about the Final Five Voting system here.

Read academic analyses of Final Five Voting here.