Ranked Choice Voting
Gives voters more voice and choice — by allowing them to rank their choices
With ranked choice voting, voters can rank as many candidates as they want in their order of preference. When used as an “instant runoff” to elect a single seat office like mayor or governor, ranked-choice voting helps elect a candidate that better reflects the support of a majority of voters. When used in multi-seat elections as a form of proportional representation voting to elect more than one candidate for a city council or school board, ranked choice voting helps to more fairly represent the full spectrum of voters.
• I support the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) for single-seat statewide executive office – like Governor, Attorney General, and Treasurer – as well as for elected Mayors, U.S. Senate and President
• I support the use of proportional ranked-choice voting (PRCV) for multi-seat municipal, school, college, county and special-district elections
• I support amending state law to give general law cities, counties and school districts the option to choose ranked-choice voting for their local government elections
California state law currently only allows charter cities the option to enact local elections by ranked-choice voting, but not general law cities, counties and school districts.
Previous legislation to empower local governments with this option was vetoed twice, by Governor Newsom (2019) and Governor Brown (2016.) Here is my two-part series on those vetoes and why they were wrong:
Why Gavin Newsom was wrong in vetoing ranked-choice voting – and how to fix it. By Michael Feinstein. Fox and Hounds Daily (CA), Part 1. January 8th, 2020 • Part 2. January 9, 2020
• RCV eliminates the need for run-off elections
Where seats are elected in single-seat districts, ranked-choice voting eliminates the need for holding run-off elections. This:
(i) reduces campaign costs for candidates to run for office
(ii) reduces taxpayer costs to conduct the elections
(ii) allows public financing dollars to go further because they apply to only a single election
(iii) puts the decision on who to elect before voters in higher turnout and more diverse general elections, instead of lower turnout and less diverse primary elections, and
(iv) makes it easier for voters to express their will by only having to vote once, while still empowering voters to express their preferences over any and all candidates.
Candidates do best when they attract a strong core of first-choice support while also reaching out for second and even third choices from voters.
Ranked choice voting is already in use in Alameda and San Francisco counties in the Bay Area, and in other cities and counties around the United States. (see videos to right)
Ranked-Choice Voting in San Francisco, California
Ranked-Choice Voting in Alameda County, California
Ranked-Choice Voting in Minneapolis, Minnesota
