A version of this article formatted for printing as a tri-fold brochure may be downloaded here.

Marin Ranked Voting is a nonpartisan group of Marin County residents working to make government more representative. We promote better methods of choosing public officials in which voters can rank candidates in order of preference.

Why Ranked Voting

When voters can rank candidates in order of preference, election results more accurately reflect the views of the entire community. Ranked voting also increases voter turnout, reduces negative campaigning and, in many situations, saves money.

In single-seat elections, including the Board of Supervisors and elected mayors, ranked voting is called instant runoff voting (IRV). It ensures that the winner has majority support. As a result, a candidate supported by a minority of voters can no longer win just because his or her opposition is split among several other candidates. It’s safe to vote your conscience.

In elections to fill more than one seat at a time, including city councils in Marin, ranked voting is called choice voting. It ensures both majority rule and representation of minority points of view.

In both methods, when your first choice can’t win, your vote is passed along to your second choice (and then your third, and so on), maximizing the odds that your vote will help elect someone you support.

Choice voting also minimizes wasted ballots by redistributing votes when the highest-ranked candidates get more than they need to guarantee their election. This lets a majority slate or viewpoint get a majority of the seats, and minority points of view get representation roughly proportional to their numbers.

Both forms of ranked voting reduce negative campaigning when candidates learn that they need second and third-place votes from supporters of other candidates. They increase turnout when voters learn that their votes are more effective.

In single-seat elections, IRV also increases voter participation by solving the chronic problem of low turnout for one round of a two-round election. In jurisdictions where either the first or second round is not on a regular election day, IRV also saves money and voters’ time. In Marin, it would eliminate the current five-month wait for the results of runoff elections.

This is only a brief summary of ranked voting. We have more information on our website and in literature you can download. Our website also provides links to important sources of information elsewhere on the Internet.

Goals

Marin County should implement both forms of ranked voting: IRV for single- seat elections and choice voting (also called single transferable vote or STV) for multiple-seat elections. This will require action at the state as well as the local level. We need legislation giving local communities the option to use ranked voting. AB 1294 will soon be heard in the Assembly Elections Committee, and needs immediate support--especially from city councils and the Board of Supervisors (see “Activities” and “Get Involved” below).

Marin Ranked Voting also supports and participates in statewide efforts to promote better forms of representation at the state and federal levels. Our goals are closely aligned with those of the national organization FairVote

www.fairvote.org

the statewide group Californians for Electoral Reform (CfER)

www.cfer.org

and a growing list of local campaigns in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Oakland, Davis, and elsewhere. Links to many of these local groups are located in the right-hand column of this page.

Activities

Marin Ranked Voting was formed during the summer of 2005. Our activites include:

• Making presentations to local civic and political groups. Please contact us if you would like to arrange a presentation to your organization.
• Building support for legislation that furthers our goals, including AB 1294, introduced by Assembly Members Gene Mullin and Mark Leno. This bill would give all cities, counties and districts the option of using ranked voting, and would facilitate implementation through statewide standards.
• Work with county officials to ensure that Marin’s voting equipment is capable of running ranked voting elections, and that the county’s equipment vendors are prepared to provide the necessary software at a fair and reasonable cost.
• Talk with elected officials throughout the county about the advantages of ranked voting.
• Help high schools and colleges implement ranked voting methods in student government elections.

Get Involved

• Learn more about ranked voting and implementation in Marin County. Join our mailing list by signing up here, or contact us for more information.
• Invite us to make a presentation to your civic or political organization.
• Talk to members of your city council about choice voting in your town or city. Ask them to support AB 1294 by Mullin and Leno.
• Talk to the member of the Board of Supervisors from your district about instant runoff voting.
• Talk to the Registrar of Voters about including the ability to conduct future ranked voting elections in the specifications for any new equipment or upgrades.
• Write to Assembly Member Jared Huffman and Senator Carole Migden urging them to support the Mullin/Leno bill, which would give all California local governments the option of using ranked voting and would set standards for ranked voting elections.

Join us to work for majority rule and full representation at all levels of government.

Last revised February 28, 2007