Ranking the candidates

Which one of eight hopefuls will emerge victorious in the city of Santa Fe's mayoral election appears to be anyone's guess. But if past behavior of Santa Fe voters is a reliable indicator, one result is certain: Ranked-choice voting will help play a deciding role.

More than seven years after the city rolled out the voting system — in which voters can rank candidates in any race on their ballot with more than two contenders — tallies show an overwhelming majority of Santa Fe voters have taken advantage of this "instant runoff" method, ranking multiple candidates in contested elections in past municipal elections.

Still, ranked-choice voting continues to draw skepticism in Santa Fe and nationwide. Some have cast the system as confusing to voters, warning about incre

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