California District 16 Primary Would Have Benefited From Ranked Choice Voting
May 17, 2024
In close races like this, it’s especially important that every vote has its maximum impact – yet just 38% of voters selected Liccardo or Low. That means 62% of voters aren’t represented in the results. If California used RCV, that 62% of voters could have ranked backup choices on their ballots and consolidated around a viable candidate they liked.
"No matter how California runs its elections, there’s always the possibility of a razor-thin outcome and even a drawn-out count or recount – that’s okay. But in a single-choice voting with a crowded field of 11 candidates, things are more likely to get complicated, unrepresentative, and sometimes flat-out weird.
Ranked choice voting would be an easy upgrade with a much more representative result. Whether RCV is used in the primary, general election, or both, it would be an improvement over the current method."
Read the full blog post at https://fairvote.org/california-district-16-primary-would-have-benefited-from-ranked-choice-voting/