This bill would allow local governments to hold ranked choice elections and primaries for city, county, and other local offices. In this style of election, also known as “instant runoff voting,” voters rank candidates in order of preference and votes are counted in rounds. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated in each round. When two or fewer candidates remain, counting stops and the candidate with the greatest number of votes shall be elected or nominated.
We support this bill because: Ranked choice voting has a dual positive effect on the franchise and participation by 1) reducing the cost to municipalities that may not have large budgets for elections, and 2) eliminating the need of run-off elections which burden election offices and voters via the 14-day time constraint. This is a proven method of election elsewhere in the U.S.
