San Jose voters will decide in March 2028 whether to use ranked choice voting for special elections. The City Council sent the measure to the ballot on June 23, 2026. By replacing a costly two-round process with a single election, RCV would save taxpayers about $1.5 million every time a special election would have gone to a runoff, while giving diverse communities a fairer shot. Take Action Now: Sign up as a San Jose supporter to help us win in March 2028. San Jose has a real

Los Angeles' 13-member Charter Reform Commission released its final 301-page report, recommending that the city adopt ranked choice voting as part of a sweeping governance overhaul. Other proposals include expanding the City Council from 15 to 25 members, lowering the voting age to 16, strengthening the Ethics Commission, and reducing barriers for candidates to run. City leaders must act by June to place measures on the November ballot. Read the full story at My News LA for m

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

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.

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

Santa Clara County's December 30, 2025 assessor runoff cost an estimated $13.1 million, turnout fell 53% from the first round, and the winner got fewer total votes than in the initial election. FairVote argues ranked choice voting would avoid costly runoffs like this by finding a majority winner in a single election. The county is well positioned to switch, with Measure F's 1998 authorization, compatible voting machines bought in 2019, and AB 1227 enabling the change. Read th

Cal RCV co-founder and board president Tom Charron argues that Santa Clara County should adopt ranked choice voting to save money and improve elections. The county is spending $13 million on its December 30 assessor runoff, while implementing RCV would cost about $4 million for the first election cycle, and runoff turnout typically drops by about 40%. RCV already works in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, where it produces majority winners in a single election. Read the f

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

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

Pollster Douglas Schoen argues that America's primary system needs reform, and that ranked choice voting is the place to start. Because RCV lets voters rank candidates, no one can win a party nomination without broad support. Schoen says the system rewards consensus-building, discourages negative campaigns, and pushes candidates to appeal to a majority of voters, not just their base. Read the full piece at the Orange County Register for more details.

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

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