Cal RCV Updates

Below is a partial list of prominent Californians & groups who support ranked choice voting. Know any organization or prominent person in California that should be added to this list? Email us at info@calrcv.org and let us know! Organizations League of Women Voters of Orange Coast Alameda League of Women Voters League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles (LWVLA) League of Women Voters of Sacramento Green Party LIbertarian Party Reform Party American Solidarity Party Forward

In a 10-1 vote, the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission recommended that the city adopt ranked choice voting for mayor, City Council, and other city offices beginning in 2032. The recommendation was part of a broader package of government reforms, including expanding the size of the City Council. The LA RCV Coalition, led by Cal RCV and More Equitable Democracy, has been leading the push for RCV in Los Angeles. Read FairVote's full news release for more details.

California is ready for fairer, more representative elections—and the momentum is growing. Watch Cal RCV’s October 2025 meeting for an inside look at how Los Angeles can learn from Portland, OR. Robin Ye, a Portland city council candidate and election reform leader, shares firsthand insights on Portland’s groundbreaking use of Proportional Ranked Choice Voting (PRCV). Portland’s 2024 election was a turning point: more voters saw their ballots count, more communities earned re

Maine and Alaska are the first two US states to use Ranked Choice Voting. With RCV on the ballot in several more states this November, it’s a good chance to compare how the system works in each state and how it has affected election outcomes thus far. RCV first came to Maine when the City of Portland adopted the method in 2011. The election of controversial Governor Paul LePage with less than a majority vote twice (with only 38% in 2010) led to the push for RCV statewide. Mai

Cal RCV's August 2024 Statewide Meeting was electric! Get updates on cities all over California that are making RCV a reality. Hear from Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, about her electoral reform journey, the RCV rollout in NYC, and more. City-Specific Updates Included: Santa Clara County by David Newswanger Richmond by Alex Banash Oakland by Marcela Miranda-Cabllero Carlsbad by Reese Harris Redondo Beach by Tom Charron Watch the recording

This past Wednesday, we hosted a statewide strategy meeting with phenomenal guest speakers from Portland, OR, Richmond, Santa Clara, and Los Angeles. In case you missed it, the recording is now up on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sVAFR9FcO7g 2:30 - How Portland Oregon got Proportional Ranked Choice Voting (Sol Mora) 20:01 - Oregon's statewide ballot measure for RCV (Sol Mora) 28:32 - Richmond, CA's effort to get RCV on the ballot for Nov 2024 (Sue Wilson & Ken White) 36:27 - An u

A new EMC Research poll finds that 64% of likely 2024 voters in Santa Clara County support using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in countywide and local elections. This represents significant growth in support since 54% of county voters voted for RCV in county elections by approving Measure F in 1998. Read the poll memo Even before hearing any explanation of Ranked Choice Voting, 56% of poll respondents supported using RCV to elect countywide officials like the Board of Supervisor

Guess what? We're on fire! 🚀 Another year, another set of wins for Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)! Our friends in Michigan - Kalamazoo, East Lansing, and Royal Oak - just shouted a resounding "HECK YEAH!" to RCV this past Tuesday. Those aren't just wins; they're victory dances waiting to happen! The party doesn't stop there. The people of Minnetonka, MN rejected an effort to repeal RCV in their city, and Easthampton, MA voted to expand RCV to multi-winner city council elections!

Cal RCV and its coalition partners FairVote and CfER have been working together to complete a project CfER started in November 1997 to bring Ranked Choice Voting to the 2 million people of Santa Clara County. The people of Santa Clara voted for RCV, however, there have been questions raised by the county's counsel about whether the county can choose to move to RCV, even though Santa Clara County is a charter county. Assembly Bill 1227 clarifies that Santa Clara County can ind

Cal RCV and its coalition partners FairVote and CfER have been working together to complete a project CfER started in November 1997 to bring Ranked Choice Voting to the 2 million people of Santa Clara County. The people of Santa Clara voted for RCV, however, there have been questions raised by the county's counsel about whether the county can choose to move to RCV, even though Santa Clara County is a charter county. Assembly Bill 1227 clarifies that Santa Clara County can ind

Cal RCV and its coalition partners FairVote and CfER have been working together to complete a project CfER started in November 1997 to bring Ranked Choice Voting to the 2 million people of Santa Clara County. The people of Santa Clara voted for RCV, however, there have been questions raised by the county's counsel about whether the county can choose to move to RCV, even though Santa Clara County is a charter county. Assembly Bill 1227 clarifies that Santa Clara County can ind

First City in Los Angeles County to Choose the Instant Runoff Method of Voting Redondo Beach, California - The voters of Redondo Beach have spoken and have chosen to implement Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for the city's elections, with election night results showing 77% in favor of Ballot Measure CA 5. Also known as Instant Runoff Voting, RCV allows voters to rank their choice of candidates on the ballot and eliminates the need for a runoff election while still ensuring a major

The 2022 Midterm Election is over, and although the results are still coming in, Ranked Choice Voting was used and voted to be implemented throughout the state. - The Alameda County Registrar of Voters fulfilled their promises of promptly posting RCV results on the web, and continuing eliminations until two candidates remain. - Albany had a multi-winner RCV election, also known as Proportional Ranked Choice Voting (PRCV). The final winners were determined by surplus transfers

*Featuring Tom Charron from CalRCV GO VOTE. Politics in the US has gotten more and more extreme over the past few years. A complex mix of changes in class, laws, technology, and the media have created a witches' brew for political extremism. The January 6th insurrection and the recent assassination attempt on Nancy Pelosi underscore this new brand of violent political extremism. Rank Choice Voting (RCV) is one way many experts suggest we can slow down, stop, and even reverse

AB 2808, introduced by Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell (D-Long Beach), would have prohibited ranked choice voting (RCV) in all California state and local elections — including in charter cities like San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland that have used the system successfully for over a decade. The bill was held in the Assembly Elections Committee on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, after Committee Chair Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) declined to bring it to a vote. O'Donnell, a self-d

On Wednesday, February 9th 2022, our panelists joined moderator Tom Charron of the California RCV Coalition to discuss the state of voting in California and our nation as a whole. Ranked Choice Voting provides a unique opportunity to increase voter choice at the ballot box and discourage the divisive political practices that have become standard in American politics. Our three panelists have unique insight into the problems with our current elections system and a passion for