Ranked Choice Voting

Would you support ranked choice voting being used to decide city elections?

— Drew

Responses

Raelina Krikston

Hey Drew,

I absolutely support rank choice voting! (If you’re like me and had to look this up to make sure you knew what it meant, rank choice voting is the process of voting by rank rather than an either-or vote.)

From Fairvote.org: “RCV is straightforward: Voters have the option to rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third and so forth. Votes that do not help voters’ top choices win count for their next choice.”

I believe that rank choice voting is just one instance of old institutionalized processes which we can modify in order to create a more fair and equitable future for our community.

Thanks for the question and opportunity to learn a neat new term.

Cheers,
Raelina

Kimberley White

I fully support studying the ranked choice voting issue to evaluate whether it should be implemented and how it would best be implemented in Arcata.

Under the California Election Code, ranked-choice voting is defined as “a method that allows voters to rank candidates for elected office in order of preference.” Under the measure, a candidate will need a simple majority of the vote (50%+1) to be declared the winner of an election. If no candidate wins a simple majority of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated. People who voted for that candidate as their first choice would have their votes redistributed to their second choice. The tabulation process would continue as rounds until a candidate receives a majority of the votes to be declared the winner.”

Eureka Measure C was on the ballot on November 3, 2020. It was approved. There were many local political parties, organizations, and unions that supported ranked choice voting. Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee, Green Party of Humboldt County, andHumboldt County Progressive Democrats all supported rank choice voting, which I might add all have endorsed my candidacy. In addition, the Humboldt and Del Norte Counties Central Labor Council also supported rank choice voting and I have received their endorsement as well. Organizations such as North Coast People’s Alliance, Cooperation Humboldt, and Humboldt League of Women Voters also supported ranked choice voting in the Eureka Measure C ballot (Nov. 2020). With the passing of Eureka’s Measure C in Nov. 2020 this upcoming November 2022 would be the first regular election that Eureka will be using RCV.

I appreciate the advantages that ranked choice voting offers, but need a full understanding of the implementation costs, any disadvantages, and how it would be implemented in elections for multiple open seats such as this Arcata City Council election.

Meredith Matthews

Hi Drew,

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, for the City of Arcata, it is a moot question. Arcata is a General Law City, which means our Municipal Elections must follow the California Elections Code, unlike the City of Eureka, which is a Charter City, and are therefore not bound by election codes.

It is a thoughtful question on a much broader subject involving the discussion of the pros and cons of adopting a charter.

Brett Watson

Thanks for the question. First of all, I would let the voters decide. I really don’t have strong feeelings, either way.

I found this interesting in my research: “In 2019, the Legislature passed a bill that would have given general law cities, counties and school boards the option to adopt ranked-choice voting, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it.”

https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2022/05/31/ojai-considers-california-first-general-law-city-ranked-choice-voting/9915595002/

According to a staff report by Ojai city staff from May of this year, the courts have not yet ruled on whether or not a general law city, such as Ojai and Arcata, can make the swtich to ranked-choice voting. So the belief that we can’t do it isn’t entirely true.

While there remain some legal concerns over whether or not we could even present the option as a Council to the voters, a ballot measure could be pursued by the voters themselves by collecting enough signatures. It would be interesting to see Arcata voters say they want to vote on it, and then someone tries to sue the voters themselves to stop it. We as a city would be legally obligated to place it on the ballot.

Ojai held off on moving forward with placing it on the ballot so that leaves an opportunity for Arcata to lead and be the first city to make a go of it.

If you have any thoughts on this, pplease don’t hesitate to contact me through my website:

Drew asks Kimberley White, Meredith Matthews, Brett Watson, Raelina Krikston , Dana Quillman, Jeffrey Scott Sterling…