Burlington, Vermont elects their first city councilor with ranked choice voting
On December 6th, Burlington voters used ranked choice voting (RCV) in their special election to fill a city council vacancy. It was the first use of RCV for city council in Burlington.
Burlington voters approved an RCV ballot measure with 64% support in 2021 after a campaign led by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, with backers including 10 current and former state legislators, former governor Howard Dean, and the League of Women Voters of Vermont.
Although officials intended to begin using RCV next March for their regular city council elections, an early implementation was triggered by the resignation of outgoing councilor Jack Hanson. RCV was implemented smoothly and voters had positive things to say about the system.
Maea Brandt won the council seat for the East District by defeating two opponents with a majority win in the first round.
| Candidate | Round 1 vote share |
| Maea Brandt | 55% |
| Dina John | 39% |
| Jake Schumann | 6% |
While RCV rounds were not needed to determine a majority winner this time around, voters can feel confident that they are protected from “vote splitting” and “spoiled elections” as they head into their next council elections in March, where candidates must file to run by January 30th.
Ranked choice voting is the fastest-growing nonpartisan election reform in the country because it creates better elections and better representation. Burlington joins over 60 other locations in the United States who use RCV for municipal, state, or federal elections. Additionally, Burlington voters may have the opportunity to expand RCV to mayoral elections if the city council chooses to advance the measure to voters.
