Adopting RCV would double turnout among voters of color in Santa Clara County and San Jose
23 mar 2022
Moving to Ranked Choice Voting would eliminate "contingent runoff" elections, which currently reduces turnout among people of color
"As ranked choice voting (RCV) grows in popularity across the country, FairVote has studied how it can improve voter turnout by combining two-round elections into a single higher-turnout instant runoff contest."
"Primary turnout tends to be significantly lower than general election turnout so the choices made in primary elections reflect the preferences of a smaller group of voters, creating less representative outcomes and denying a strong governing mandate to elected officials."
"Across the four elections studied in San Jose and Santa Clara County, voter turnout is highest among White voters in both primary and general elections. However, voters of color have a larger increase than White voters going into the general election. Turnout among voters of color doubles in the general election, while White turnout increases by only 1.5 times."
Read the study summary at https://fairvote.org/case_study_contingent_runoffs_in_san_jose_exacerbate_racial_turnout_gap/