Editorial Board Memo: The Case for Ranked Choice Voting in NYC

NEW YORK, NY (09/27/2019) (readMedia)-- To: Editorial Boards

From: Common Cause/NY

Subject: The Case for Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) will appear before New York City voters on the ballot this Fall. If approved, it would apply to all local offices for primary and special elections: Council, Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, and Borough President. Polls open for early voting from October 26th-November 3rd, but voters will also be able to cast their ballot on Election Day, November 5th. RCV is already in use in San Francisco, Minneapolis/St.Paul, Santa Fe, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Maine is about to use it in the presidential primary, and various state parties from Kansas Democrats to Utah Republicans already use it too.

Here's how it works:

Ranked Choice Voting gives voters the option to rank their top five candidates in primary and special elections. If voters still want to vote for just one candidate, they can. A candidate who collects a majority of the vote, fifty percent plus one, wins. If there's no majority winner, the last place candidate will be eliminated and voters who ranked that candidate first have their ballots instantly counted for their second choice preference. The process is repeated until there's a final pair with a majority winner.

RCV would rationalize NYC primaries, ensuring majority winners.

In 2021, 70% of the City Council will be term limited, as well as all five borough presidents, Comptroller Scott Stringer and Mayor Bill de Blasio. The Campaign Finance Board predicts that at least 500 candidates will be competing for open seats, meaning up to 12 candidates vying for all open seats. A Common Cause study found that 64 percent of multi-candidate primaries were won with less than 50 percent of the vote. Candidates elected through Ranked Choice Voting will always win with a majority of the vote.

There are multiple benefits for voters.

Most candidates win crowded elections in New York City by campaigning to their base, and fail to get a majority. With Ranked Choice Voting, candidates will be forced to campaign to the broader electorate in the hopes of being ranked second or third. Ranked choice voting helps create consensus candidates with majority support, and reduces negative campaigning.

The Democracy Fund surveyed voters from ten cities, three where Ranked Choice Voting is in use and seven where it is not. The two year study found that voters in places with Ranked Choice Voting were happier with campaign conduct and experienced less negative campaigning than voters in places that do not use Ranked Choice Voting. A second comparative survey of voters in California in cities that do and do not use Ranked Choice Voting found that a majority supported adopting Ranked Choice Voting to improve election conduct.

Other studies conducted in California found major gains for people of color, increasing representation in majority-minority districts by 17 percent, multi-ethnic districts by 24 percent, and white majority districts by 9 percent. Ranked Choice Voting prevents the "spoiler effect," allowing multiple candidates from under-represented communities to run, and encourages coalition building.

It's simple and saves money

Ranked Choice Voting would eliminate the need for costly run-off elections, like the 2013 Democratic primary run-off for public advocate, which cost more than $11 million. The city also spends a considerable amount of money supporting elections. In 2017, the year of the last mayoral election, the city spent $17.7 million in public payments to candidates and nearly $30 million to administer the election. More recently, the city provided $7.2 million in matching funds to 11 candidates for the public advocate special election. The cost of administering elections and the public funding program means that taxpayers have an interest in ensuring the city's election system is fair and achieves the goal of electing officials who truly represent their constituents.

  • In 2017, 85% of St. Paul voters and 92% of Minneapolis voters said that "RCV was simple to use."
  • In 2018, exit polling during Maine's first ranked choice voting election, found that more than 74% of Maine voters said ranking choices was either somewhat or very easy, compared with 10 percent who said it was either somewhat or very hard.
  • And more than 94 percent of Santa Fe voters polled during that city's first ranked choice voting election in 2018 said they were satisfied with their voting experience. More than 84% of voters reported that the new RCV ballot was not confusing.
  • In the Bay Area, 83% of voters found RCV ballot instructions easy to understand.

A diverse and broad coalition supports it. Full list here, updates pending.

"Ranked Choice Voting is an efficient and effective way New York City can improve its outdated election laws, help end voter suppression and save taxpayer dollars," said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. "As this campaign launches today, I proudly support the initiative and will push for its implementation. It's time to Rank the Vote!"

"The most diverse city should have the fairest and most efficient system of voting in the country. Rank choice voting gets New York City one giant step closer to ensuring real opportunities for candidates from all over the city, including communities of color, to win public office. And it builds in more incentives for all candidates to seek out all of our votes. No one should be taking us for granted. I support rank choice voting because it helps under-represented New Yorkers get the attention they deserve!" said Maya Wiley, New School Senior Vice President for Social Justice.

"New Yorkers deserve elections that lift up our voices, and push candidates to campaign better. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is the simple solution that puts power back in the hands of the people where it belongs. That's why Common Cause/NY is proud to stand with such a broad coalition of New Yorkers fighting for better elections," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

"Preserving our democracy depends on protecting the concept of majority rule. Ranked choice voting will help ensure that minority interests do not dominate our local elections," said Kathy Wylde, President of the Partnership for New York City.

"New York Communities for Change is proud to support a reform that will force candidates to engage all communities in their districts and give voters more choice. Ranked Choice Voting is needed in New York City so that we can continue to build power and transform our communities," said Jonathan Westin, Executive Director of New York Communities for Change.

"Starting on October 26th, New York City voters have a chance to improve how we select our elected officials and create a fairer, more responsive government," said Paul Westrick, Manager of Democracy Policy at The New York Immigration Coalition. "Ranked Choice Voting provides more opportunities for people of color to be viable candidates for office and has proven to improve the diversity of election winners. These ballot proposals will bring meaningful, lasting change to city government and we encourage New Yorkers to vote 'yes'."

Assemblymember Ron Kim said, "I am a strong proponent of Ranked Choice Voting and urge New Yorkers to join us in supporting this ballot measure. It has the potential to make our democracy stronger, fairer, and more inclusive for all. With its implementation, we can reinforce our natural collaborative tendencies and re-shape how our leaders are chosen and govern. Elections should be focused on building partnerships and putting the full range of our ideas on display. If voters are able to rank multiple candidates by order of preference during elections, those candidates will be more willing to eschew negative campaigning or personal attacks in favor of cooperation and finding common ground. By doing this, we can form coalitions of excited voters truly vested in the election process and ready to help reinvigorate our democracy."

"There's no doubt that New York is in need of electoral reform – and ranked choice voting in New York City must be a key part of it. It would better reflect the voters' wishes, and provide the winner with a broader mandate and more credibility," said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

"A year ago New Yorkers voted for major change in Albany, and now we have a chance to do the same in New York City with Ranked Choice Voting. Ranked Choice Voting puts power back in the hands of the people, by giving voters more options and elevating new, diverse candidates so that every community has a voice," said State Senators Alessandra Biaggi, Robert Jackson, Zellnor Myrie, Jessica Ramos, and Julia Salazar

"New York City's current voter laws are antiquated and out of line with our reputation as a bastion of progressive and innovative policy," said Council Member Antonio Reynoso. "Our current system calls for a runoff election in citywide races where no candidate receives more than 40% of the vote. Runoffs are exorbitantly expensive, duplicative, and tend to work in favor of established candidates. Ranked choice voting (RCV) allows voters to express their preferences for a variety of candidates by ranking their top five choices. It is time for New York City to follow the lead of numerous other localities by implementing Ranked Choice Voting for more streamlined, competitive, representative and cost effective elections."

"Lowering the barriers to engage in our representative democracy has been the guiding light of Empire State Indivisible's organizing efforts. It is why we fought so hard to engage voters around the state to defeat the IDC and then to elect a true Democratic majority in Albany. And it is why we continue to work so closely with allies to deliver critical voting and campaign finance reforms at the state level. But New York City has the opportunity to go one step further this year by embracing a Ranked Choice Voting system that will uplift and strengthen the voices of everyday New Yorkers while encouraging a diverse set of candidates that seek to represent their full constituency. Now more than ever, we need candidates to embrace the power of organizing, and Ranked Choice Voting creates the right incentives for a healthy and engaged democracy," said Ricky Silver, Empire State Indivisible.

"We are at an inflection point in our democratic experiment where the question must be asked do our leaders represent the many or the few, some of us or all of us. Ranked choice voting will put the power back in the hands of the people, restoring confidence that our elected leaders speak for all of us and reflect our diversity," said Brette McSweeney, President, Eleanor's Legacy.

"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.