Eight in ten Californians say most elected officials don't care about people like them

A November 2025 poll by the Public Policy Institute indicates that "Californians are pessimistic about elected officials taking into account the opinions of their constituents. Eight in ten adults and likely voters say that elected officials don’t care what people like them think".

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) directly combats the feeling that officials "don't care" by fundamentally shifting the incentives for how candidates campaign and govern. In a traditional "winner-take-all" system, a candidate can ignore large swaths of the population and win with a mere plurality (often as low as 30-35%) by catering solely to a narrow, energized base. RCV forces politicians to build a broad coalition to reach the required 50% threshold for victory. To win, candidates must appeal not only to their core supporters but also to voters who prefer other candidates, hoping to secure their second or third-choice rankings. This dynamic compels officials to listen to and engage with a much wider variety of constituents—including those they might otherwise ignore—making them more responsive to the general public's concerns.

Furthermore, RCV helps bridge the disconnect between voters and outcomes by eliminating the "wasted vote" dilemma. When voters feel they must vote strategically for the "lesser of two evils" rather than the candidate who actually listens to them, it reinforces the belief that their true opinions don't matter. RCV allows voters to rank candidates based on their genuine preference without fear of helping a candidate they dislike. Consequently, the eventual winner is mathematically proven to have the broadest consensus of support, ensuring that the elected official is actually accountable to the majority of the electorate rather than a vocal minority.

Read the PPIC poll results at https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-economic-well-being-november-2025