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

On April 29, 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, and the short version is this: Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the federal law that has protected voters from unfair maps for sixty years, has been significantly narrowed. For decades, if a district map had the effect of diluting the voices of minority voters, those voters could go to court. After Callais, plaintiffs now have to prove the people who drew the map intended to discrimi

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

Former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon dropped out of the crowded 2026 Democratic field for governor and used his exit statement to call for ranked choice voting. Calderon said RCV would keep Californians from being boxed into a lesser-of-evils choice and give voters real options. Read the full story at ABC10 for more details.

John E. Palmer, board chair at Cal RCV partner Rank the Vote, argues that California should upgrade its top-two primary rather than return to closed partisan primaries. He proposes advancing the top five candidates to November and using ranked choice voting in the general election, which would expand voter choice and guarantee the next governor wins with majority support. The piece also criticizes the pressure campaigns that push candidates to withdraw, leaving voters wonderi

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.

This San Francisco Chronicle op-ed argues that instead of matching Trump in a redistricting fight, California should adopt proportional representation, the fairest way to divide up legislative seats. Republicans win about 40% of California's votes for Congress and the Legislature but hold less than a quarter of the seats, a gap the authors trace to winner-take-all, single-member districts. Proportional RCV, which elects several representatives per district by ranked ballot, i

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

Leonard Leo and other far-right power players are attacking a bipartisan election reform. After the success of RCV in Alaska and Maine, interest in the reform has grown around the country. Nevada and Oregon will have referendums on RCV this year, and dozens of cities are considering adopting it. Bills to implement RCV have bipartisan support in Georgia, Virginia, and Wisconsin, and dozens of cities are already using RCV in local elections. But the movement for RCV is running

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

LA Times columnist Mark Barabak says Californians frustrated with politics should look at Alaska, which uses an open primary and ranked choice voting. He notes that the system doesn't automatically favor either party and that strongly ideological candidates can still win if they earn majority support. Barabak concludes that Alaska's push for consensus and problem-solving politics sets a good example more places should try. Read the full piece at the LA Times for more details.

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