BP Brewer + Activists Push for Ranked Choice Voting for ALL Offices in NYC

NEW YORK, NY (04/25/2019) (readMedia)-- New York-- Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY, joined with other voting rights activists to push the NYC Charter Commission to put ranked choice voting for all elections on the final ballot.

On Monday, the Commission listed ranked choice voting as a preliminary recommendation. The Commission will vote on a final slate of proposals in June that voters will ultimately approve or reject on the November ballot.

"Common Cause/NY is thrilled that the staff of the NYC Council Charter Commision has included ranked choice voting in its preliminary recommendations. Ranked choice voting is a common sense election reform that helps community-based candidates win, creates consensus, and eliminates the winner-take-all mentality. But voters need it for every office, not just city-wide positions. We look forward to working with the Commission to make sure the final proposal placed before the voters in November gives New Yorkers the opportunity to gain the full advantages of ranked choice voting," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

In 2021, 70% of the City Council will be term limited, as well as all five borough presidencies, Comptroller Scott Stringer and Mayor Bill de Blasio. That means at least 200 candidates will be competing for open seats. Ranked choice voting would help create consensus, lessen negative attacks, and save tax dollars.

"If voters have the opportunity to rank their choices for candidates for public office, on just one election day, we could enhance democracy by ensuring that those elected have a more solid base of support from the people-- and save taxpayer dollars by avoiding expensive runoff elections," said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer.

"I'm excited to see that the Charter 2019 NYC Commission is recommending Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for NYC, which I've been pushing for years!" said Council Member Brad Lander. "It will help make our elections more democratic & inclusive, and eliminate costly low-turnout runoffs. A great proposal to have on the ballot this November, and I'm thankful to Common Cause, my colleagues, and all the organizations who have been pushing for this outcome."

"I urge the Charter Revision Commission to further consider ranked choice voting for all of our elections and to include this logical reform on the final ballot. Ranked choice voting has proven effective elsewhere and would work to make our city's elections more fair by ensuring that winners reflect a true consensus of voters," said Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer.

"Reinvent Albany is pleased the 2019 Charter Revision Commission is seriously considering Ranked Choice Voting. Past charter revision commissions have as well, and this time the Commission must meaningfully establish RCV in NYC so candidates have to appeal to a broad range of the electorate when running for office, campaign on substantive policy issues, and empower voters to choose candidates they truly support," said Alex Camarda, Senior Policy Advisor at Reinvent Albany.

New York City is long overdue for ranked choice voting. It is time for us to ditch run-off elections marked by low voter turnout in favor of ranked choice voting where candidates win elections with the majority of the votes cast. We urge the Charter Revision Commission to support ranked choice voting in all New York City primaries. - Rachel Bloom, Director of Public Policy & Programs, Citizens Union.

Background

Ranked choice voting allows voters to express their preferences for a variety of candidates by ranking their first five choices. If on election day when all the first-choices are counted there is one candidate who collects a majority of the vote, that candidate wins. If there's no majority, then the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes re-allocated according to voter preferences. The process is repeated until there's a majority winner. The groups' proposal would implement Ranked Choice Voting for all NYC primary and special elections, including races for city council and citywide offices.

Other cities like San Francisco, Minneapolis and Santa Fe, have implemented ranked choice voting to revolutionize the way candidates campaign.

In the last three election cycles in New York City, sixty-three percent of multi-candidate primaries were won with less than 50% of the vote, 30% were won with less than 40%, and nearly 10% were won with less than 30%. In 2021, the incumbents will be term-limited in approximately 70% of the City Council, all five borough presidencies, as well as the offices of the controller and the mayor. That means over 200 candidates will be competing over open seats.

Ranked choice voting also helps change the composition of what our government looks like. According to a study done by Fair Vote, in the four Bay Area cities that use ranked choice voting, candidates of color have won 62% of those races, as compared to only 38% prior.

In early April, Common Cause/NY also launched a website and released a new analysis that builds on a previous report -- The Case for Ranked Choice Voting in New York City -- which quantifies the prevalence of multi-candidate primaries in the last three election cycles in NYC. The study found:

• Over the last three election cycles, there average number of candidates ranged from 4 to 5.

• Over the last three election cycles, less than 15% of multi-candidate primaries with 4 or more candidates produced majority support winners.

• In 2013, the last primary election cycle with a wave of open seats, no race with 4 or more candidates produced a majority support winner.