Ranked choice voting can help increase voter turnout Jun 14, 2023 Santa Clara County might be on the brink of embracing a new era of democracy. Introduced by Assemblymembers Evan Low and Alex Lee, Assembly Bill 1227 paves the way for implementing ranked choice voting in county elections. "Political experts expect the Senate to pass Lee and Low’s legislation this summer and Gov. Gavin Newsom will most likely sign it. If it increases voter participation as well as saving county money, we hope county supervisors will adopt ranked voting choice starting in 2024." Read the full article at https://morganhilllife.com/2023/06/09/editorial-ranked-voting/ All News & Updates

Think our politics stink? Look north to Alaska Jul 2, 2023 Political columnist Mark Barabak says Californians should look to Alaska's use of RCV to see how we can improve politics "Despite claims the system is stacked against conservatives, blanket ballots and ranked voting don’t automatically favor one party over the other. It doesn’t even stop strongly ideological candidates from winning, so long as they gain majority support. Alaska’s conservative Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, was reelected in November, the political scientists noted, and Rep. David Eastman, a member of the extremist Oath Keepers, was returned to the state Legislature. Alaska is just one state — and an idiosyncratic one at that. But the effort to promote consensus and elevate a less performative, more problem-solving approach to politics sets a good example. More places should try it." Read the full article at https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-07-02/alaska-ranked-choice-voting-solution-to-political-polarization All News & Updates

Politicians shouldn't get to pick their opponents. Read our Op-ed in the LA Times. Mar 8, 2024 Opinion: Steve Garvey’s strange win is a loss for California election reform. Here’s the solution. Read Cal RCV's and FairVote's Op-ed in the LA Times on March 8, 2024: Opinion: Steve Garvey’s strange win is a loss for California election reform. Here’s the solution "Why did the Burbank Democrat spend a small fortune boosting Garvey’s name recognition and blanketing the airwaves with ads that touted the former first baseman’s conservative credentials? You might call it a squeeze play: Schiff wanted to keep his two closest Democratic competitors out of the fall race, and he succeeded. Garvey claimed the second-highest vote total in the top-two primary, while Democratic Reps. Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland finished in third and fourth, leaving them out of the running. This is a classic example of a problem that could be solved by ranked-choice voting, a tested, nonpartisan reform that discourages this sort of gamesmanship and more accurately represents what a majority of voters want." All News & Updates

Ranked Choice Voting Promises To Change Elections. Here’s What To Know. Apr 12, 2023 Frustration with the polarization of our political system has helped ranked choice voting gain ground across the country over the past two decades. After the people of Redondo Beach became the third city in Southern California to adopt Ranked Choice Voting, The LAist reported on the basics of ranked choice voting, what we know about its effects on elections, and what it takes for a city or state to make the switch. Read the full article at https://laist.com/news/politics/ranked-choice-voting-promises-to-change-elections-heres-what-to-know All News & Updates

Douglas Schoen: America’s primary system needs reform Apr 27, 2023 Douglas Schoen recommends Ranked Choice Voting in op-ed "Ranked choice voting – which some states and localities have already adopted – would be a starting point. This is a more democratic and representative system because it allows voters to rank candidates in an election, rather than select only one, thereby ensuring that no candidate is able to win their party’s nomination without being ranked by a majority of voters. This system incentivizes consensus-building, discourages negative campaigns, and forces candidates to campaign by appealing to the broadest majority of voters, not just their base." Read the full op-ed at https://www.ocregister.com/2023/04/27/douglas-schoen-americas-primary-system-needs-reform/ All News & Updates

Case Studies: RCV in Maine and Alaska Oct 6, 2024 With RCV on the ballot in several more states this November, it’s a good chance to compare how it works in each state and look at how it has affected election outcomes. 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. Maine adopted RCV in 2016 through a citizens’ petition and ballot measure. Because the state constitution explicitly requires that state offices be won with a plurality, Maine only uses RCV in its partisan primaries for governor, state senator, and state representative, and in both partisan primaries and general elections for US senator, US representative, and US president. Voters also approved RCV by ballot measure in Alaska, which passed with 50.5% of the vote in 2020. Measure Two included the switch from partisan (closed) primaries to an open primary, with the top four candidates moving to the general election conducted using RCV. This offers a contrast to Maine’s system where the winner of each party’s primary face each other in November. Maine has a longer history of RCV elections than Alaska. In the 2018 party primaries, only two races needed more than a single round of voting to decide the winner and in both cases, the plurality winner was also the majority winner. In the 2018 general election, 16 of the 17 races with more than two candidates were not closely competitive, and the winner received a majority of first-choice votes. The race for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018 was one where RCV resulted in an ultimate winner who did not win a plurality in the first round. Sitting Representative Poliquin (R) received 46.3% over Golden (D) with 45.6%, and independents Bond and Hoar with 5.7% and 2.4%, respectively. More voters for these independent candidates preferred Golden as their 2nd of 3rd choice and he won in the final round with 50.6%. In 2020 Maine’s nine primary races and 10 general elections had more than two candidates and offered ranked ballots. In 13 races a majority winner was reached in the first round of RCV and in the rest the plurality winner consolidated their lead in subsequent rounds and won a majority. The same was true in 2022, with only four contests needing to go to subsequent rounds with no change in the first-place winner. Alaska’s primary and general elections in 2022 and the 2024 primaries are the only statewide races that have used RCV to date. In all the 2022 statewide elections, the leader in the primary won in the general election, but the open primary led to somewhat surprising results. In the Senate race three Republicans and one Democrat went to the general election. Sen. Lisa Murkowski narrowly led with 43.4% over Kelly Tshibaka’s (R) 42.6% in the first round. The fourth-place Republican’s votes went mostly to Tshibaka, but Democrat Pat Chesbro’s voters preference for Murkowski gave her the majority with 54%. In the 2022 race for Alaska’s sole U.S. House seat one Democrat, Mary Peltola, two Republicans, Sarah Palin’s and Nick Beggich, and a Libertarian (Chris Bye) advanced to the general election. Peltola won the first round with 48.8% ahead of Palin in second with 25.7%. In the second round Peltola gained 49.2%. Even though most of Beggich’s voters preferred Palin, 7,500 of them voted for Peltola and gave her the majority with 55%. In the 2024 open primary, Peltola won an outright majority with 51% of the vote, but third-place finisher Nancy Dahlstrom (20%) has withdrawn and endorsed her Beggich who came in second with 27%. In both Maine and Alaska, RCV doesn’t typically lead to a change from the plurality winner to the winner of the final vote. Where it has affected the outcome, the result was the more centrist candidate who garnered enough support to win the majority in the final round. All News & Updates

Redistricting, Proportional Representation and LA Charter Reform Sep 29, 2025 Beyond Maps: How Los Angeles Could Make Every Vote Count Beyond Maps: How LA Could Make Every Vote Count Winner-take-all districts silence too many Angelenos. This op-ed breaks down proposals to expand the council and adopt PRCV—showing how multi-seat districts can turn 80–90% of votes into representation and curb zero-sum politics. Dive into the details ➜ https://www.citywatchla.com/state-watch/31585-redistricting-proportional-representation-and-la-charter-reform All News & Updates

A look at Ranked Choice Voting for Sacramento Dec 15, 2024 With Josh Rosa of Better Ballot Sacramento “Our guest today, Josh Rosa, is on the Steering Committee of Better Ballot Sacramento , an organization promoting adoption of Ranked Choice Voting in Sacramento… We chat about the various types of RCV and look at the pros and cons of the system.” Listen to the podcast at https://capitolweekly.net/a-look-at-ranked-choice-voting-with-josh-rosa/ All News & Updates

Santa Clara County committee says ranked choice voting saves money Dec 31, 2025 Ranked choice voting can save money for local governments and for candidates by eliminating the need for primary elections “‘Ranked choice voting can save money for local governments and for candidates by eliminating the need for primary elections,’ reads a December report to the Santa Clara County Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Elections. ‘As an example, (ranked choice voting) may have eliminated the cost of the Assessor runoff election scheduled for Dec. 2025.’” https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-committee-says-ranked-choice-voting-saves-money/ All News & Updates

Cal RCV & Level Up California Co-Host Panel Discussion with Andrew Yang, Rob Richie, and Maria Perez Feb 9, 2022 Andrew Yang, Rob Richie, and Maria Perez joined moderator Tom Charron of the California RCV Coalition to discuss the state of voting in California and our nation as a whole. On Wednesday, February 9th, 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 solving the crisis of America's ever-deepening political divide. Watch the event on YouTube: 00:00 - Intro 07:30 - Intro to RCV & impact on candidates running for office 31:30 - RCV from voters' point of view 40:53 - More benefits, including cost savings 47:45 - The impact of RCV in California cities so far 59:01 - Increased representation of minority voices 1:04:09 - Multi-winner RCV to achieve proportional representation 1:17:10 - How RCV can be adopted at the statewide level in California 1:25:50 - How multi-winner RCV can help ensure voting rights Andrew Yang is an author, former presidential candidate, and non-profit founder. In 2021, Yang founded the Forward Party PAC , which has a focus on electoral reform. Rob Richie is the co-founder and CEO of FairVote , a non-profit advancing Ranked Choice Voting and Proportional Representation across the United States. He is a frequent contributor to publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Maria Perez is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Democracy Rising , an organization that promotes democratic engagement and representative, accountable leadership. Perez previously served as FairVote's New Mexico director. All News & Updates

Ranked choice voting could be hitting Long Beach next Jan 7, 2026 A group of Long Beach residents are working to change the city’s voting system to ranked choice voting “Along with council members and other City officials, Long Beach residents may see an item on the November 2026 ballot that would change how the city conducts its elections going forward. RCV (Ranked Choice Voting) in the LBC is a group of Long Beach residents passionate about civic engagement trying to change the city’s voting system to ranked choice voting.” https://sigtrib.com/ranked-choice-voting-could-be-hitting-long-beach-next/ All News & Updates

Does Ranked Choice Voting Increase Voter Turnout and Mobilization Sep 6, 2024 While critics of RCV complain that it confuses and somehow disenfranchises voters, a recent research paper found significant and substantially higher probabilities of turnout in places that use RCV. In a 2021 study, researchers from the RCV Resource Center, University of California, Davis, the University of Iowa, and Western Washington University examined voting behavior in over 10,000 cities. Controlling for various factors, they discovered that people in jurisdictions with RCV were more likely to vote . Voter participation in RCV areas was 12.8%, compared to 10.6% nationally—a 17% increase. This increase is notable, considering the 24% difference in voter participation between states with the most and least restrictive voting laws. Why the increase? Previous research suggests RCV leads to more civility and less negative campaigning. Candidates in RCV races report more positive campaigning and voter outreach efforts. Additionally, newspaper articles about RCV elections tend to be more positive. This study further explored RCV's impact on voter outreach. Using two national surveys, they found that voters in RCV cities were more likely to be contacted by campaigns, particularly through in-person visits, mail, and email. This suggests that RCV campaigns may favor more personalized outreach methods. You can read the complete study here: Does Ranked Choice Voting Increase Voter Turnout and Mobilization? - ScienceDirect All News & Updates