Advocates Rally For Ranked Choice Voting: 'It's A Win-Win'

NEW YORK, NY — Advocates in support of a new way of voting rallied Thursday in Lower Manhattan — calling on New Yorkers to vote in favor of what's called "ranked choice voting" on their ballots this November.

Under the system, voters would rank their top five candidates in each race for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president and City Council in primaries and special elections beginning in 2021.

Advocates say the measure would avoid costly run-off elections — where the two top vote-getters are put a second ballot in close races — and make it so that the winner in a crowded primary would have the majority vote.

"It's a win-win," said Alice Nascimento, the director of policy and research for New York Communities for Change.

The decision to have ranked-choice voting is on the ballot Nov. 5 in New York City, along with a string of reforms that New Yorkers get to decide whether they want or not.

If it passes, the new way of voting would arrive in time for 2021 when some 70 percent of city politicians will be term-limited from their current positions.

The system has been tested in Minneapolis and San Francisco, as well as other countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

"We're still not sure as to why all these cities have beat us to it," said Nascimento.

Added Susan Lerner, of Common Cause New York, "This one has been road-tested," compared to other new ways of voting.

Under the ranking system, candidates who collect a majority of the vote would win.

If there's no majority, the last place candidate would be eliminated and second choice votes for people who voted for that candidate reworked to see if there is a majority.

That process repeats until a candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote — avoiding costly run-offs or situations where elected officials win without the majority vote, advocates say.

A broad coalition of groups joined for Thursday's rally in support of the measure — like New York Communities for Change, Common Cause/NY, Empire State Indivisible, New York Immigration Coalition, and various elected officials, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who himself won in a 17-person special election with 33 percent of the vote.

"We do not want to waste money and time on run-offs, upon run-offs, upon run-offs when we have a system that not only strengthens someone's vote, saves people money, but also helps get people who are not normally elected, elected," Williams said.

Ricky Silver, of Empire State Indivisible, said the new system would "uplift and strengthen the vote of everyday New Yorkers."

"We can envision a more productive and positive approach to our elections," Silver said.