Measure 3C would implement ranked choice voting (RCV) in all future Longmont City Council elections beginning in 2029. RCV offers you more choice, allows you to vote honestly instead of strategically or “for the lesser of two evils”, and ensures the winners truly reflect the preferences of the voters.

 

Under RCV, you can rank candidates in a race in their order of preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.), instead of picking just one. Votes are then counted in rounds, but as a voter you only have to vote once. Your vote always counts for your first choice, unless your first-choice candidate has the fewest votes in a round of counting—then your vote is automatically counted for your next highest ranked preference. This process continues until candidates have cleared a winning threshold determined by the number of candidates to be elected. In a single-winner RCV election, the winning candidate must receive over ½ of the votes. In a two-winner RCV election, each winner must receive just over ⅓ of the votes. For three winners, it’s just over ¼—and so on. 

 

In short, RCV allows you to vote for who you actually want to—and have your vote count for a backup choice if your first choice can’t win, and where voters use it, they love it! RCV is already in use across the country in a wide variety of jurisdictions, including Alaska and Maine for statewide races, New York City and San Francisco, California for city elections, and by political parties to give their voters more choice in selecting candidates in general elections. RCV is also already in use in elections right here in Colorado, including to elect Boulder’s mayor in 2023 and four members of Fort Collins’ City Council this past November.