Ranked-choice voting is back on the ballot
by Harry Roth
Voters in Irvine, CA; Longmont, CO; and Honolulu, HI, will decide on ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures next month. After a string of losses in 2024, RCV advocates are looking to these three mid-sized cities for a chance to rebuild momentum. But with Alaska gearing up for its second repeal attempt in two years, the movement could face another major setback.
None of the three municipal RCV measures were put on the ballot by citizens. Rather each was proposed by their respective city council or charter commission. Irvine’s Measure D, which would implement RCV for city council and mayoral elections starting in 2028, was placed on the ballot by a 4-3 vote. Longmont Question 3C would also implement RCV for city council and mayoral elections starting in 2029, but only if equipment certified by the Colorado Secretary of State is available and finalized rules are in effect.
Honolulu Question 5 will appear on the November ballot alongside 19 other questions, including other far-left proposals like an “LGBTQIA+ Commission” and a new law that would block local police from cooperating with ICE. If approved by voters, Question 5 would implement RCV in mayoral, city council, and prosecuting attorney elections starting in 2032, though the misleading and vague ballot description leaves out a lot of details.
In 2023, RCV ballot measures passed in Burlington, VT; Easthampton, MA; East Lansing, MI; Kalamazoo, MI; Royal Oak, MI; and Redondo Beach, CA. Riding high on their success with local measures that year, RCV advocates decided to spend big on statewide measures in six states and D.C. in 2024, blowing tens of millions of dollars only to lose in all six states. The only successes were local measures in Richmond, CA, and Oak Park, IL; an advisory measure in Peoria, IL; and a ballot initiative in D.C.
Pro-RCV groups like FairVote, Rank The Vote, and Common Cause are now trying to rebuild the trust of donors who feel burned after wasting tens of millions of dollars. Hopefully, voters will recognize RCV’s long track record of making voting harder, election administration harder, and election auditing nearly impossible before they are saddled with this unnecessary reform.