Ranked Choice Voting + the Race For City Council in District 15

Candidates agree new voting method gives voters more choices

NEW YORK, NY (03/11/2021) (readMedia)-- On Tuesday night, Common Cause/NY, Rank the Vote NYC, Dominicanos USA, Mothers on the Move and Disability Rights NY hosted a virtual forum on ranked choice voting (RCV) and the race for City Council in District 15. The event was moderated by Juan Manuel Benítez, NY1 News/NY1 Noticias political anchor and reporter, and the creator and host of Pura Política. Eight candidates participated, including John Sánchez, Elisa Crespo, Ischia Bravo, Kenny Agosto, Troy Blackwell, Oswald Feliz, Latchmi Gopal and Altagracia Soldevilla.

WATCH the forum here.

The candidates were asked specifically how RCV has discouraged negative campaigning:

"[RCV] takes off some pressure, 'Okay it's not only me, we don't need to fight. You can vote for someone else.' The only thing I'm making sure is that the people that are reaching outside to vote say, 'Put me as your first choice and then you can choose from the others.' And then people start relaxing and laughing and say, 'Okay, that is good.' It's a good thing to do. So for me it take out some pressure from the voter and also from the candidates is my opinion," said Altagracia Soldevilla.

"I think it speaks to the character of the candidates in this race that everyone has given the office the dignity it deserves, which is to treat everyone with respect and everyone's vision, but I also think Ranked Choice Voting, not just this race but in general, will make people more mindful of candidates. Regardless what happens on Election Day, we're all stakeholders in this district so you will probably have to work with these people after Election Day, so you never know what positions people will be in a nd where they can help you. Politics has a funny way of working things out but I think RCV makes people more mindful," said Troy Blackwell.

"I've sat down with many of the candidates, and we all agree that we have the same mission, which is to improve the lives of the people of the Bronx. We've all been on the campaign trail for four months, and I'm sure we've all come across voters that supporting other candidates, and we all have the same script, 'Oh, X candidate is a great candidate, I agree. I'm running for xyz reasons, can you put me as number two on your ballot?' It's been a pretty clean race and I'd say RCV has played a role in making sure we're not attacking each other and asking instead for that number two vote," said Oswald Feliz.

"RCV gives a chance to pick among your favorites, and regardless of who wins in both elections, once everything is done and the people have had their say, I'll work with whoever wins. We're all winners, and we work together, and that's what it's all about," said Kenny Agosto.

The candidates were also asked how they would rank their own ballots:

"This seat has never been held by a woman before, and I think that's important. I think Ischia would do a great job, and she's a mother and a fighter, and I have respect for her," said Elisa Crespo.

"We've never been represented by a woman before, and I think that's really important, so for my number two it would be between Ischia and Elisa, Oswald and Kenny are my other two for individuals who have a clear vision, lots of experience. I know that being a community organizer, I can push those four people to do the things they promised in the City Council budget. I know I can push them to hold them accountable to the people of the Bronx, and that's how I made my decision about the four of them," said Latchmi Gopal.

"I think voters are still contemplating who their second, third, fourth and fifth choices are. These are tough choices, I support women and diversity, and I support experience more than anything. I'm still making my choices," said Ischia Bravo.

Juan Manuel Benítez asked the candidates other questions on RCV, including:

  • How has your campaign been educating voters on RCV?
  • Has RCV allowed you to talk about more controversial issues?

RCV allows voters the opportunity to either rank five candidates in order of preference or vote for just one like they always have. If no one wins with a majority (more than 50 percent), the candidate that came in last is defeated and voters' second choice votes get counted and so on until the top vote-getter of the final two is declared the winner. RCV will apply to primaries and special elections for all local offices including City Council, Borough President, Comptroller, Public Advocate and Mayor. Voters overwhelmingly passed RCV in the fall of 2019, with 74 percent of the vote.

Background

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.