Daniel Wolf of Democracy Counts argues California's gubernatorial primary is failing its own stress test, with the likely nominee advancing on roughly a quarter of the vote. He proposes a top-five primary followed by ranked choice voting in November so the winner carries a genuine majority mandate, pointing to Alaska, where voters adopted the system in 2018 and declined to repeal it in 2024. He cautions that election reform alone is not enough without rebuilding the civic gro

CalMatters examines whether California's top-two primary delivered on its 2010 promise and finds that statewide races rarely produce the same-party matchups its architects expected. Cal RCV's Tom Charron tells the outlet that the state could improve upon top-two with an Alaska-style top-five primary paired with ranked choice voting, which could go before voters as a constitutional amendment in 2028. Reformers argue that approach would widen the field and shut down the strateg

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

Cal RCV volunteer and longtime San Jose resident Jay Shuler argues that ranked choice voting would let San Jose eliminate its standalone runoff elections, which cost the city millions and draw far lower turnout. Consolidating the process into a single RCV election would cut costs while producing more representative results. He points to other California cities where RCV has streamlined elections. Read the full piece at the San Jose Mercury News for more details.

Better Ballot Sacramento, backed by Cal RCV and FairVote, launched a campaign to bring ranked choice voting to Sacramento's mayor and City Council races. The measure, supported by the Sacramento County Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, would replace the primary and top-two runoff with a single November election won by majority. Advocates say it would save money and ensure winners have broad support, while some Republican critics worry about

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

With eight Democrats splitting the vote in California's 2026 primary for governor, two Republicans led the polls, raising the prospect of Democrats being shut out of November entirely. LA Times reporter James Rainey argues that ranked choice voting, already used in San Francisco, Oakland, Alaska, and elsewhere, would prevent this by letting voters rank candidates so the most broadly supported ones advance. Read the full piece at the LA Times for more details.

Summary The June 2 primary sent Democrat Xavier Becerra (28%) and Republican Steve Hilton (25%) to November. Nearly half of primary voters chose someone else. The feared two-Republican November didn't happen. The field narrowed through a scandal and late shifts in support, not a system built to reflect voters. In March, the party asked low-polling candidates to drop out. Becerra was polling at 3% then. He's now the Democratic nominee. The fix: a Top 5 primary with ranked choi

Update, October 2026: This post was written in March, before the June 2 primary. Democrat Xavier Becerra (28.0%) and Republican Steve Hilton (24.6%) advanced to November. Summary In March, polls showed California's Top-2 primary could produce a November ballot with two Republicans for Governor, despite a 45% to 25% Democratic registration advantage Vote-splitting among well-known Democrats kept every one of them at or below 14%, while two Republicans led with 16% and 15% The

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

A group of Long Beach residents called RCV in the LBC is working to bring ranked choice voting to the city's elections. The Signal Tribune reports that Long Beach voters may see a measure on the November 2026 ballot that would change how the city elects its council members and other officials. Read the full story at the Signal Tribune for more details.

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

A December report to Santa Clara County's Citizens' Advisory Commission on Elections says ranked choice voting can save money for local governments and candidates by eliminating the need for separate primaries. The report points to the county's December 2025 assessor runoff as a cost RCV might have avoided. Read the full story at San José Spotlight for more details.

David Newswanger argues that Santa Clara County could have avoided the roughly $13 million cost of its December 30 assessor runoff by using ranked choice voting for special elections. The county already has voter approval through Measure F, legal authority under AB 1227, and compatible voting equipment. He urges the Board of Supervisors to adopt RCV for special elections now, since future vacancies will keep producing costly, low-turnout runoffs. Read the full piece at the Sa

The Institute for Mathematics and Democracy has released what may be the most comprehensive empirical study of ranked choice voting to date, analyzing nearly 4,000 real ranked-ballot elections and more than 60 million simulated ones. Its 66-page report concludes that ranked choice methods outperform first-past-the-post elections on nearly every measure of democratic fairness. Read IVN's coverage for more details, or download the full report.

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

Steven Hill looks at how the growing use of ranked choice voting is changing campaign strategy, voter behavior, and representation in the U.S. He finds that RCV reduces the spoiler effect, encourages coalition-building over polarization, and makes winners earn broader support. He also flags open questions about transparency, voter education, and keeping election logistics up to speed as RCV spreads. Read the full piece at DemocracySOS for more details.

A study in the Journal of Election Administration, Research & Practice examines how Oakland fixed the higher-than-usual ballot error rate in its November 2024 ranked choice election. After improvements to ballot design and voter guidance, Oakland's April 2025 special election ran smoothly, and the overvote rate fell to under a quarter of the 2024 level. In that election, 99.6% of voters cast valid ballots. Read the full study, starting on page 29 of the journal issue.

This UCSD Guardian op-ed argues that ranked choice voting is a practical reform that brings elections closer to the true will of the people. The author contends that RCV preserves voter intent, encourages sincere voting, and produces winners backed by a majority rather than just the largest plurality. Read the full piece at The UCSD Guardian for more details.