HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-15-2022_Open Session_Item 9_Mulvihill, James_links sanitizedFrom:James Mulvihill
To:CityClerkDepartment
Cc:James Albert
Subject:Ranked-Choice Voting Discussion: February 15, 2023
Date:Tuesday, February 14, 2023 8:08:34 PM
Caution - This email originated from outside the City - Verify that the Email display name and Email address are consistent. - Use caution when opening attachments.
Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) is here to stay, and its adoption is gaining momentum in
California and across the United States. A key handicap of RCV is that most voters are
unfamiliar with RCV and believe that the procedure is too complex. The benefits of RCV are
worth establishing a public education program explaining the procedure and its benefits. Our
present system typically relies on "pluralities" of votes, where the candidate getting the most
initial votes wins. In RCV, the voter not only selects their first choice, but also their second,
third, fourth, etc. These "positions" are then used as "weights" to indicate the candidate
having the broadest public support. RCV is especially helpful in so-called "crowded" elections
in which many candidates are running for the same office. The United States has witnessed a
"crowded" election where one candidate having a substantial "base" of voters was enabled to
win, through an initial plurality, over a number of more desirable candidates.