A brand new state invoice from two Silicon Valley legislators may put Santa Clara County one step nearer to adopting ranked alternative voting.
Meeting Invoice 1227 has already cleared the meeting and is now headed to the state senate. The invoice, by Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-San Jose) and Alex Lee (D-San Jose), would permit the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to resolve in the event that they wish to undertake ranked alternative voting for county elections.
The voting technique, which has picked up steam lately and is being utilized in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro, has been controversial — particularly after the Alameda County Registrar of Voters incorrectly tabulated the ranked alternative voting outcomes in an Oakland faculty board election final yr.
California legislation dictates that solely cities — not counties — can change their voting strategies on their very own, which is why state laws is required earlier than Santa Clara County may proceed with the change.
Lee known as ranked alternative voting a “widespread sense method.”
“In a great world the place folks have sufficient data and the taking part in area is fairly even, ranked alternative voting supplies a extremely nice environment for folks to select and select and rank their favorites and in addition results in much less zero summing on the subject of whether or not it needs to be the lesser of two evils,” he informed The Mercury Information.
Low stated switching to ranked alternative voting will assist restrict the quantity of “adverse campaigning and mudslinging” throughout election season since candidates could be much less more likely to assault their opponents when they are often the second alternative on the poll.
With ranked alternative voting, there could be no primaries and solely a common election could be held. Voters have the choice to rank the candidates on the poll within the order they like. The winner is decided by a easy majority and if one isn’t reached, the votes are redistributed primarily based on the rankings till a candidate reaches greater than 50%.
Proponents of the voting technique say it eliminates the necessity for a number of elections and helps promote democracy, whereas critics say it’s too difficult and delays election outcomes. San Jose final yr declined to undertake ranked alternative voting saying it was too complicated and will doubtlessly disenfranchise voters.
“There’s all the time going to be a critique of something new, particularly if people aren’t accustomed to it,” Low stated of the detractors.
Whether or not to change to ranked alternative voting has been debated on the county stage for years and in 1998, voters handed Measure F, which stated nothing within the county constitution would prohibit the supervisors from making the change.
Nevertheless, on the time, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters didn’t have the expertise to make the change. In 2019, the county bought new machines that will make ranked alternative voting attainable.
It’s moved to the forefront as soon as once more as different cities, like Eureka, are making the change for the 2024 election. At a county stage, voters in 2020 elected Supervisor Otto Lee, who has been a staunch supporter of the idea.
“Ranked alternative voting encourages extra readability and cooperation amongst candidates that elevates the standard of the talk and lessens the vitriol and private assaults that's far too commonplace throughout campaigns,” he stated in a press release. “Moreover, much less well-known or financially funded candidates might have a greater likelihood of getting elected.”
If AB 1227 makes its technique to the governor’s desk and Gov. Gavin Newsom provides it an indication of approval, it could then be as much as the board of supervisors as to what occurs subsequent.