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Home My WebLink About2024-09-10; City Council Legislative Subcommittee; ; Ranked-Choice VotingMeeting Date: Sept. 10, 2024 To: Legislative Subcommittee From: Jason Haber, Intergovernmental Affairs Director Staff Contact: Jason Haber, Intergovernmental Affairs Director jason.haber@carlsbadca.gov, 442-339-2958 Subject: Ranked-Choice Voting District: All Recommended Action Receive presentations regarding ranked-choice voting; discuss and provide feedback to staff. Discussion At the June 11, 2024, meeting of the Legislative Subcommittee, Subcommittee Member Burkholder requested a presentation on ranked-choice voting be placed on a future agenda. Ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots rather than voting for just one candidate. If a candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes (i.e., 50 percent plus one), they will be declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who selected that candidate as their first choice have their votes redistributed to their second-choice candidate. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority of the ballots. The process repeats until one candidate achieves a majority. In California, ranked-choice voting is used for local elections in the following seven localities: Albany, Berkeley, Eureka, Oakland, Palm Desert, San Francisco, and San Leandro. Ranked-choice voting is also allowed in the following two localities: Ojai (scheduled for use in 2024) and Redondo Beach (scheduled for use in 2025). Marcela Miranda-Caballero, Executive Director for California Ranked Choice Voting Coalition and Paula Whitsell, past Chairwoman of the Republican Party of San Diego County will present their views on ranked-choice voting. LEGISLATIVE SUBCOMMITTEE Sept. 10, 2024 Item #3 Page 1 of 2 Next Steps If the Subcommittee recommends further consideration of ranked-choice voting by the city, staff will work with the City Manager to place an item on a future City Council agenda for discussion. Exhibits None. Sept. 10, 2024 Item #3 Page 2 of 2 From:Paul Hannosh To:City Clerk Subject:Opposition to RCV Date:Tuesday, September 10, 2024 7:49:24 AM Dear Legislative Committee members, I’m Paul Hannosh, a Veteran , former school board member/ waterboard treasurer and resident of the village. I’m not sure why this council continues to waste time addressing the issue of RCV. Proponents of Rank Choice Voting(RCV) mislead the public on this topic. They say it’s fair but in reality it’s overly complex and prone to error when tabulating later rounds as evidenced recently in Oakland School Board race in Nov. 2022. The officials admitted 2 months after the fact that there had been a miscount and the 3rd place winner was in fact the winner and they had to sue in order to get installed on the board. Many states have banned this scheme which indicates that there are deep concerns. Voters don’t get better choices as claimed. They can actually lose their vote in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th round. Studies of voter participation show a clear decline when RCV is implemented. Democrat Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a RCV Bill stating that it was overly complicated and confusing: It makes it harder to detect Voter fraud and creates a forced consensus which is no consensus at all but just an illusion. Perhaps that’s because this complicated scheme requires more research by the electorate to study all the candidates which for most people just doesn't happen and it’s immoral because it forces voters to rank candidates they would ordinarily oppose thus violating their conscience. We don’t need to change the way we vote, what we do need is to ensure transparency, trust and integrity in the voting process. We need to ensure that only citizens are voting. RCV does the opposite, it confuses voters and creates less participation and trust in the system. Any council member that supports this effort will have to face the voters wrath for making their lives and the voting process a nightmare. One final thought, foreign influence is pushing RCV for nefarious purposes. Infamous bad actors like George Soros have financed these efforts to push this neo marxist voting system on the public. I urge you to reject this scam. -- Kind regards, Paul CAUTION: Do not open attachments or click on links unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Ranked Choice Voting for California Marcela Miranda-Caballero California Ranked Choice Voting Institute, Executive Director Carlsbad’s Current Voting System Does not require a majority winner. Under our current plurality system, the winner just needs to earn the most votes. Candidates can be elected even when the majority of voters wanted someone else. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) enables voters to rank candidates in preferred order for instant runoff during the general election. WHERE IS IT USED? San Francisco | Oakland | Berkeley | San Leandro | Redondo Beach | Eureka | Albany Maine | Alaska | New York City | Michigan | Portland, OR | Westbrooke, ME | 23 cities in Utah The fastest growing voting reform in the nation Used by more than 11 million voters across the United States Cities and counties: • In use • Upcoming use States: ■ Used statewide Local elections in some jurisdictions ■ Military and overseas voters ■ Special elections ( () n "'-._/ HOW IT WORKS ●In the General Election, you rank the candidates in order of preference ●If no candidates receives over 50% of the first choice votes, that’s when the ranking kicks in. ●The candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and their votes are assigned to those voters’ 2nd choice. ●The process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes and is declared a winner! Why RCV is Good for Carlsbad? ✔Majority winner ✔Freedom to vote your values ✔More diverse campaigns ✔More civil campaigns ✔More accountability ✔More choice MYTH VS FACT Myth: It’s Too Confusing FACT: In NYC's first time using RCV, 90% of voters ranked 2 or more candidates on their ballot with 95% of all voters saying they found the ballot easy to complete regardless of age, race, education, language spoken or income-level. Myth: Leads to Election Errors (i.e. Oakland) FACT: The cause of this error was human, not a software error. An incorrect setting was made by staff that “suspended ballots” that had a write-in 1st choice or a skipped 1st choice instead of counting those voters' 2nd choices. Once the right setting was chosen, the accurate results were generated with a push of a button. Unfortunately, the change in result created ill will with the erroneous winner and his supporter. Myth: RCV leads voters to making mistakes on their ballots FACT: Studies show RCV ballots errors are NO more common than on our existing ballots. Myth: If I don’t rank ALL the candidates, my vote won’t count FACT: If you choose not to rank your candidates and instead cast a “bullet vote” for just one, your vote still goes to the person you support. Bringing RCV to Carlsbad Legislative Subcommittee Ask? ●An internal study and/or longer conversation on Ranked Choice Voting and its benefits along with the impact of RCV to the city of Carlsbad Is San Diego County ready? ●Carlsbad would be the first city in SD County to implement RCV. ●SD County uses Dominion Voting Systems, which have an Instant Runoff RCV module that can be turned on easily. THANK YOU! 9/17/2024 2 RANKED CHOICE VOTING - RCV Variations on RCV •Instant Runoff Voting •Single Vote Transfer •STAR Voting •Approval Voting Groups andCoalitions Supporting the Implementation of RCV •“More Choice in San Diego”Coalition •Independent Voter Project •“More Choice” Initiative •Non-Partisan Election Reform •Fair Elections.org •More Voice 9/17/2024 3 I History of RCV 9/17/2024 4 •From 1915-1940 24 US cities implemented RCV. All but one have repealed RCV. •2009 Aspen CO implemented RCV. They repealed it after one election cycle. •2022 Alaska voted in RCV through a Citizens' Initiative.After one election cycle,a Citizens'Repeal Measure is scheduled to be on the November Ballot. •2006 Oakland CA voted in RCV.They have suffered election setbacks with the wrong candidate being certified and sworn in a 2020 school board election. •2022 election cycle saw the 3rd place candidate win the Mayoral race after 8 rounds of counting.There is an effort underway to repeal RCV in Oakland, CA which is supported by the NAACP. I •More Candidate Choices on the Ballot (up to 5). •RCV is sold as an Anti-Corruption measure. •More Civility in Campaigns. •Candidates will have to campaign for voters'2nd,3rd, 4th or 5th preference vote •No runoffs will be needed as the winner is decided within one election. •Cheaper election cycle. 9/17/2024 5 REASONS GIVEN TO SUPPORT RCVI WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! •RCV will require extensive upgrades and new equipment at the ROV to accommodate the new system. •The time required to complete the count is greatly extended delaying final certified results. 9/17/2024 6 1 ----- WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! •Voters find RCV very confusing and complicated,leading to voter errors on ballots, lower voter turn-out and a high rate of "exhausted" ballots. 9/17/2024 7 I •Creates centralization of power.The votes must be tabulated by one machine in one location with RCV software programed into the machine. •Oversight is difficult. There are no recounts or audits.Defies election transparency. 9/17/2024 8 WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!I WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! •It creates the illusion of a majority candidate winning the election.The reality is the winner is often the 3rd or 4th place candidate after multiple rounds of counting which does not represent the majority of the voters. •Many voters will have their ballots "exhausted", thrown out and not counted. 9/17/2024 9 1 ----- WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! •RCV encourages candidates to be less than candid during their campaigns as they are campaigning not only for voters’ first choice, but also for their 2nd,3rd,4th or 5th choice. 9/17/2024 10 1 ----- WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! •RCV is very expensive!In 2022,Alaska spent 328%more in one election than from 2010-2020 combined. 9/17/2024 11 1 ----- WHY RCV IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! •Violates the “one person, one vote” principal. 9/17/2024 12 1 ----- WHY SHOULD I CARE? •If your candidate does not make it to 50%+1 on the 1st round, round 2 and thereafter becomes a crap shoot! •RCV makes it risky to financially support a candidate as outcomes are very uncertain. 9/17/2024 13 1 ---- HOW? 9/17/2024 14 •City Charter Review Committees •Ad Hoc Charter Amendment Committees •City Councils 1 - WHEN? •August/2024: Deadline for the 2024 November ballot. •August/2026: Deadline for the 2026 November ballot. 9/17/2024 15 1 - For more information on Ranked Choice Voting, go to: Onemillionauditors.org https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=dX1e66nFXXE 9/17/2024 16 9/17/2024 17 My Contact information: Paula Whitsell 619-852-1010 pwhitsell@gmail.com