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Stanford's America in One Room: Democratic Reform project polled about 600 Americans before and after they deliberated on reforms like voter access, election administration, and Supreme Court reform, and found movement toward bipartisan agreement on many contentious issues. According to Stanford Professor Larry Diamond, one of the biggest takeaways was consistent majority support for ranked choice voting. After deliberating, majorities backed RCV for local, state, and national elections, in both primaries and general elections. Read the full Deliberative Poll results from Stanford for more details.

Unite America co-chair Kent Thiry argues that presidential primaries are disproportionately driven by the far left and far right, and calls for using ranked choice voting instead. He notes that the parties defend the current system because it maximizes their power at the expense of voters. Read the full piece at The Hill for more details.

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.

Alameda County has created an Elections Commission to oversee its registrar of voters, following errors in the 2022 count. Cal RCV worked with voting rights and good-government groups to push for the commission, with supporters turning out for public comment and Supervisor Keith Carson leading the effort. Cal RCV co-founder Jim Lindsay has been appointed to the new commission. Read the full story at The Oaklandside for more details.

A new state bill from two Silicon Valley legislators, developed with Cal RCV's help, could move Santa Clara County a step closer to ranked choice voting. County Supervisor Otto Lee said RCV encourages cooperation among candidates, raises the quality of debate, and cuts down on personal attacks. He added that lesser-known and less well-funded candidates could have a better shot at winning. Read the full story at the San Jose Mercury News for more details.

This piece in The Hill argues that single-member districts make gerrymandering, intentional or not, impossible to escape, because geographic sorting of voters produces safe seats even without partisan map-drawing. Even California, whose independent commission has largely ended partisan gerrymandering, has only a handful of competitive congressional districts. Proportional multi-member districts would make gerrymandering prohibitively hard, and Cal RCV sees proportional ranked choice voting for the state Senate and Assembly as the best way to get there. Read the full piece at The Hill for more details.

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 indeed adopt RCV as a charter county, and the bill passed the Assembly with bipartisan support: 57 Democrats and 10 Republicans in favor, 0 against, 13 no vote recorded. The bill now moves to the California Senate. From the AB 1227 fact sheet: PROBLEM In November 1998, Santa Clara County voters passed Measure F, with 53.9% voting in favor, to allow the use of instant runoff voting in the county when the technology became available. Instant runoff voting is another name for RCV. Although the County’s voting machines now have the capability to conduct RCV elections, the County’s Board of Supervisors would like clarity in state law that gives Santa Clara County, a charter county, control over the method of electing their county officers. SOLUTION AB 1227 allows the people’s vote to be implemented in Santa Clara County by giving authority to the County Board of Supervisors to adopt a proposal to elect county officers by RCV.

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.

After Redondo Beach became the third Southern California city to adopt ranked choice voting, LAist explained how RCV works and where it is used in California, from the Bay Area to Palm Desert and Ojai. The piece reviews research showing voters understand the system well and that it can save money by eliminating separate primaries. It also covers what it takes for a city to switch, noting that charter cities can adopt RCV by a vote of the people. Read the full story at LAist 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 majority of voters pick each winner. RCV has been gaining momentum as a preferred voting system across the United States because it addresses many issues with traditional voting systems. Redondo Beach voters chose to implement RCV for the following reasons: Saves money for taxpayers: By eliminating costly runoff elections, the city will save a significant amount of money. The city’s 2013 runoff election cost nearly $300,000. Gives voters more choices: With RCV, voters have more options to choose from as they can rank their preferred candidates. This allows voters to express their preferences more accurately. Increases voter participation: RCV encourages more voter participation as voters are more engaged in the process, leading to more informed decisions and a higher voter turnout. Reduces negative campaigning: RCV creates an environment where negative campaigning is not as effective, and candidates are encouraged to focus on issues and solutions. “Voters using RCV in Oakland, San Francisco, San Leandro, Albany, Berkeley, and Palm Desert say RCV is simple and they want to continue using it. This system encourages candidates to focus on issues instead of uncivil attacks on their opponents in hopes of becoming your second choice” according to Redondo Beach Councilmember Laura Emdee, who wrote the argument in favor of Ballot Measure CA 5. “Redondo Beach voted overwhelmingly for better elections,” said Tom Charron, Co-founder of the California RCV Coalition, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, volunteer organization working to expand RCV across the Golden State. “Instead of expensive, low-turnout, and unrepresentative runoffs, RCV will give voters more choice and more voice in a single election. This is also a major step forward for RCV in California, as Redondo Beach becomes the first city in Southern California to vote for this better election method.” By choosing RCV, Redondo Beach voters have taken a significant step towards a more inclusive and democratic voting system. RCV is the fastest-growing nonpartisan voting reform in the nation and has now grown to 64 states, cities, and counties reaching approximately 16 million Americans across the nation.

Albany Mayor Aaron Tiedemann writes about his city's first election using proportional ranked choice voting, which filled two City Council seats in November 2022. He argues the system offers small cities across California a model for diversifying their governing boards without carving communities into tiny voting districts. Read the full piece at the East Bay Times for more details.

The Mercury News editorial board argues that a programming error in Oakland's 2022 count should not slow the Bay Area's move toward ranked choice voting. The board notes that under the current system a candidate can win with just 20 to 30 percent of the vote, while RCV saves the cost of a primary, gives voters a bigger say, and lowers the odds of extreme candidates winning. It calls these advantages every California voter should support. Read the full editorial at the San Jose Mercury News for more details.