We utilize Ranked Choice Voting in many of our contests.

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Why Ranked Choice Voting?

Ranked choice voting helps us identify winners with broad community support. This system ensures that your vote still counts even if your top choice isn’t the final winner.

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If your top choice can’t win, your vote automatically transfers to your next favorite option. This process continues until we determine the top five winners, each with strong voter support.

 

Details (For those interested in the tallying process)

 

Since we’re selecting multiple winners, we’re using a specific process designed to fairly accommodate this structure. This process ensures that each of the top five winners is selected fairly and accurately, based on the collective preferences of all voters.

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First Election Round:

• Count First-Choice Votes: Count all first-choice votes for each candidate.

• Eliminate the Lowest-Performing Candidates: If no candidate has a majority (more than 50% of the votes), eliminate the candidate with the fewest votes.

• Transfer Votes: Transfer the eliminated candidate’s votes to the next preferred candidate on each ballot.

• Repeat Until Majority is Achieved: Continue until one candidate secures a majority. This candidate wins 1st place.

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Remove the 1st Place Winner:

• After determining the 1st place winner, remove that candidate from all ballots.

• Reset the Election: Run the election again with the remaining candidates, using the original ballots without the 1st place winner.

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Second Election Round:

• Count First-Choice Votes Again: With the 1st place winner removed, count the first-choice votes on the remaining ballots.

• Eliminate and Transfer Votes: Follow the same elimination and vote transfer process until a candidate secures a majority.

• Declare 2nd Place Winner: The candidate with a majority in this round is the 2nd place winner.

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Repeat for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Places:

• Remove Each Winner After They Are Determined: Remove each subsequent winner from the ballots and rerun the election with the remaining candidates.

• Continue Until All Top 5 Winners Are Determined: This process ensures that each winner has the majority of votes.

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Key Advantages of This Method:

• Majority for Each Winner: Ensures that each of the top 5 winners is supported by more than half of the voters, increasing legitimacy and fairness.

• Preserves Voter Intent: Respects the voters' rankings, ensuring that outcomes reflect the collective preference.

• Simplicity for Voters: Voters only need to rank their top five choices, keeping it straightforward. The complex work happens in the tallying process.

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Tie-Breaking Methodology:

• Primary Tie-Breaker: First-Place Rankings:
  If two or more candidates are tied, compare the number of first-place votes. The candidate(s) with fewer first-place votes are considered for elimination.

• Secondary Tie-Breaker: Higher Preference Rankings:
  If the tie persists, examine second-place votes, then third, fourth, etc., until the tie is broken.

• Final Tie-Breaker: Eliminate Both Candidates:
  If a tie still cannot be resolved after considering all rankings, eliminate both (or all) of the tied candidates.

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Rationale:
This approach ensures fairness and decisiveness, preventing prolonged deadlocks and maintaining the integrity of the voting process by removing candidates with insufficient distinct support.