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Summary California cities use six distinct local election systems — from plurality voting to Ranked Choice Voting — each with very different rules about whether a winner needs a majority and how many voters actually participate in the decisive round. Turnout is the hidden variable that determines how representative your local election really is: primaries average as little as 10–17% voter turnout, while November elections can reach 5x that level. Plurality voting , used in m

Summary Democratic Party leaders are pressuring candidates to drop out to avoid vote-splitting that could send only Republicans to the November election The pressure campaign has sparked accusations of racism, as most candidates being asked to exit are people of color while the top three polling Democrats are white Letting party insiders narrow the field returns California to "smoke-filled room" politics that primaries were designed to eliminate The solution: Top-5 primary wi

Summary California's Top-2 primary could produce a November ballot with only two Republicans for Governor, despite Democrats holding a 45% to 25% voter registration advantage Vote-splitting among multiple well-known Democratic candidates means no single candidate polls above 14%, while two Republicans lead with 16% and 15% The solution: Advance the top 5 candidates to November and use ranked choice voting for an instant runoff, eliminating vote-splitting and ensuring majority

How Proportional Ranked Choice Voting eliminates gerrymandering, preserves voter choice, and keeps elections fair for everyone. California's Conversation About Fair Representation With the passing of Proposition 50, California has entered a new phase in the long-running debate over gerrymandering and fair representation. Prop 50 temporarily hands redistricting power back to the Legislature—allowing elected officials to draw new congressional maps—after years of maps drawn by

We’ve all been there: looking at a local election ballot and feeling like our vote is more of a "strategic calculation" than a true expression of our values. We worry about "split votes" or "spoilers," and sometimes it feels like the winners don’t actually represent the majority of the community. If you’re a fan of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), you already know the solution. You know that RCV creates fairer outcomes, encourages civil campaigning, and ensures winners have true b

In 2023, the people of Redondo Beach chose to eliminate costly, low-turnout runoff elections with Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), letting voters pick a majority winner in a single election, on a single day, at a fraction of the cost. Background Under the city’s old election system, if no candidate received more than 50% in Redondo Beach’s March general election, the top two candidates faced off again in a separate May runoff. Two elections. Two rounds of campaigning. Two sets of

Cal RCV supports national legislation that would modernize U.S. House elections by replacing single-winner districts with multi-member districts elected by proportional ranked choice voting. Why This Is Important The Fair Representation Act (FRA) would fundamentally transform how Americans elect their representatives to Congress. This federal reform offers California voters a rare opportunity: a single legislative change that would address multiple democratic crises simultane

Santa Clara County just spent $13.1 million on a single runoff election, held on December 30, when half the voters who participated two months earlier couldn't make it back to the polls. The Board of Supervisors has the authority to fix it today, and every day they wait risks costing millions more. The Problem On December 30, 2025, Santa Clara County held a special runoff for county assessor that cost about $13.1 million; combined with the November special election, total cos

A new assessment from the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center reveals that California is well-positioned to implement ranked choice voting (RCV) statewide, with 98% of counties already using RCV-capable voting equipment.​ Current State of RCV Readiness The comprehensive 2025 assessment categorizes California as "Prepping for RCV," indicating that while substantial progress has been made, some work remains before the state is fully ready for statewide implementation. Current