RCV Lawsuit Fact vs. Fiction

NEW YORK, NY (12/09/2020) (readMedia)-- New York City voters passed Ranked Choice Voting with almost 75% of the vote last year in a ballot referendum. Now some lawmakers are trying to 1) delay it by 2) suing on the grounds that there's been insufficient education to prepare voters for a city-wide ranked choice voting election in June, 2021. They also claim that despite passing by an overwhelming margin, turn-out was low and therefore does not represent the true will of the people.

"There was no conspiracy to pass RCV, there was an election. The decision to put RCV on the ballot was not conducted in a backroom but in broad daylight by the Charter Review Commission -- appointed by the City Council, among others -- which held numerous public hearings over the course of months. Seeking to invalidate the results of a decisive, free and fair election is an attack on our democracy," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

Bertha Lewis, Founder and President of the Black Institute, gave testimony Monday in support of RCV and pushed back on arguments that it will disenfranchise Black voters:

"The Black Institute is a strong supporter of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and we oppose any attempt to override the will of the voters in New York City and put off its implementation. New York City voters want choices and they want to be able to rank their choices. RCV gives them that power. It is insulting to say that they (sic Black voters) will not be able to understand Ranked Choice Voting. It is not just a white progressive idea, as experience in cities like Oakland, Berkeley and Minneapolis, where Black candidates have successfully run with RCV and diversified their city councils, makes clear. I don't buy the argument that we can't educate voters about RCV because of the pandemic. I think it is just an excuse that opponents of RCV are using. We not only had record high voter turn-out during a pandemic, we successfully educated hundreds of thousands of voters on how to vote absentee and where to vote early. The June primary is more than 6 months away. There is plenty of time for voters to learn to rank their vote – applying something they do every day without thinking about it - to the election. It is time to stop raising groundless fears about RCV and get to work and help educate New York City voters about Ranked Choice Voting."

Here are the facts:

1. Many of the lawmakers making these claims opposed RCV in a press conference 3 days before it passed last year. Education is not their primary concern, but a fig leaf for their consistent opposition to RCV.
2. The majority of lawmakers crying foul on the outcome of the Commission, and ensuing ballot referendum, voted to approve the 2019 Charter Revision Commission.
3. There were numerous public hearings held over months that the Charter Review Commission conducted, where they could've voiced objections during the process of revising the charter. Moreover, the members of the Commission were in fact appointed by the City Council (among others).
4. Lawmakers could pass a bill before them, Intro1994, to fully fund and robustly execute a public education campaign. Regardless, trainings and public forums are already taking place, and candidates understand that they also share a responsibility to educate voters.
5. NYC has 6 months before the first city-wide RCV election to educate voters. By comparison, San Francisco implemented its education campaign 4 months before the first RCV election. But more importantly, New York City has decisively demonstrated its ability to educate voters on upcoming changes to an election during a pandemic, as it pertains to the vastly more complicated process of absentee voting, and New York City saw both record breaking turnout and widespread adoption of absentee voting.
6. 2019 voter turn-out was comparable to the 2017 elections which returned the Mayor and the opposing Councilmembers to their seats. To say that 500,000 people voting in favor of RCV is illegitimate would be to invalidate their own elections, as well as the 2019 special election of Jumaane Williams for Public Advocate, and the 2013 run off election for Letitia James for Public Advocate.
7. Historically Black communities across the city, including South East Queens, Harlem, and Central Brooklyn voted by 75%-85% + in support of RCV. This was not a lopsided victory.
8. Voters understand perfectly well how to rank their preferences, regardless of race.
   • A 2019 peer reviewed study published in Social Science Quarterly by Todd Donovan, Caroline Tolbert, and Kellen Gracey analyzed survey data from 5 Bay Area cities: Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro and San Francisco - and the comparable non-RCV cities of Alameda, Richmond, Stockton, Anaheim, Santa Ana and San Jose, California to examine whether there are racial disparities in voter understanding.
   • In terms of understanding voting instructions for RCV, there were "no differences... between whites and people of color."
   • There were "no differences in RCV cities in how whites, African Americans, and Latinx respondents reported "understanding" the system.
9. Exit polling shows that voters in RCV cities are satisfied with the experience.
   • A 2004 San Francisco State University exit survey found that after RCV was first implemented:
   • 87% of voters said they understood the system "well"
   • 61% said they preferred RCV to the old system
   • And 69% said they knew how to rank candidates even before coming to vote

Background on RCV + Representation

RCV allows voters the opportunity to either rank 5 candidates in order of preference or vote for just one like they always have. If no one wins with a majority (more than 50%), the candidate that came in last is eliminated and voters' second choice votes get counted and so on until there's a majority winner. RCV will apply to primaries and special elections for all local offices including City Council, Borough President, Comptroller, Public Advocate and Mayor.

A 2018 Common Cause/NY study found that 64 percent of multi-candidate primaries in New York City were won with less than 50 percent of the vote, and not a single race with 4 or more candidates produced a majority winner. Candidates elected through Ranked Choice Voting will always win with a majority of the vote.

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 surveys 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," and encourages coalition building.

The 2019 campaign to bring Ranked Choice Voting to NYC was endorsed by: former Mayor David Dinkins (RIP), Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Congressman Jerry Nadler, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Comptroller Scott Stringer, State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, State Senator Brad Hoylman, State Senator Robert Jackson, State Senator Brian Kavanagh, State Senator Liz Krueger, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, State Senator Jessica Ramos, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, State Senator Julia Salazar, State Senator James Sanders, Jr., State Senator Luis Sepúlveda, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, Assembly Member Ron Kim, Assembly Member Walter Mosley, Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Assembly Member David Weprin, Former NYC Mayor David Dinkins, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, Council Member Costa Constantinides, Council Member Robert Cornegy, Jr., Council Member Rafael Espinal, Council Member Ben Kallos, Council Member Brad Lander, Council Member Stephen Levin, Council Member Mark Levine, Council Member Carlos Menchaca, Council Member Keith Powers, Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Council Member Carlina Rivera, Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Council Member Paul Vallone, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Zephyr Teachout, Cynthia Nixon, Bishop Orlando Findlayter, and Reverend Dr. Ray Blanchette.