Common Cause/NY Testifies in Support of Ranked Choice Voting Ballot Simplification Bill

NEW YORK, NY (09/30/2022) (readMedia)-- Today, Common Cause/NY and other advocates testified in support of Introduction 696: legislation that will build on the successes of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and simplify the RCV ballot. New York City voters use RCV – a voting method which allows voters to rank their top five candidates – for municipal primary and special elections including City Council, Mayor, and Borough President. All City Council members are up for re-election next June. 20 Council Members are signed on in support so far.

Full testimony is attached.

The legislation bill will improve the layout of ranked choice ballots by ensuring:

• ballot instructions have been simplified to be easier to understand, and they appear in black font on a white background
• contests on the same ballot page are separated from one another using a bold black line
• non-English text can be easily compared to the corresponding English text
• each language on the ballot is clearly separated and visually distinct

"Introduction 696 will build on the successes of Ranked Choice Voting, making the ballot even more voter friendly. Ranked choice voting affords voters more choice and more voice and puts power back in the hands of the people, delivering consensus majority winners every time. We encourage the City Council to pass this bill as soon as possible so voters continue to have a smooth experience at the polls in June 2023!" said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY and Board Chair of Rank the Vote NYC.

"New Yorkers pulled off the largest Ranked Choice Voting election in the history of the U.S. when they went to the polls to vote in last year's June primary," said Council Member Sandra Ung. "Now we have the opportunity to make the process even simpler to encourage all voters, especially for those whose first language isn't English, to take advantage of the opportunity to rank their preferred candidates. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the City Council to pass this legislation quickly so these ballot improvements can be implemented in time for the June 2023 primaries."

Exit polling conducted by Edison Research during early voting and on Election Day last year confirmed New York City voters love RCV:

• New Yorkers embraced Ranked Choice Voting at the ballot box.
  • 83% of voters ranked at least two candidates on their ballots in the mayoral primary. The majority of those who opted not to rank did so because they only had one preferred candidate.
  • 72% of voters ranked three or more candidates.
  • 42% of voters maximized their newfound power and ranked five candidates.
• New Yorkers found Ranked Choice Voting easy to use.
  • 95% of voters found their ballot simple to complete.
  • 78% of New Yorkers said they understood Ranked Choice Voting extremely or very well.
• New Yorkers want Ranked Choice Voting in future elections.
  • 77% of New Yorkers want Ranked Choice Voting in future local elections.
• There was little variability between ethnic groups' understanding of ranked choice voting:
  • 77% of Black voters said they understood ranked choice voting
  • 80% of Hispanic voters said they understood ranked choice voting
  • 77% of Asian voters said they understood ranked choice voting
  • 81% of white voters said they understood ranked choice voting
• New Yorkers across ethnic groups found their ballots simple to complete:
  • 93% of Black voters found their ballot simple to complete.
  • 95% of Hispanic voters found their ballot simple to complete.
  • 97% of Asian voters found their ballot simple to complete
  • 95% of white voters found their ballot simple to complete.