On November 3, voters in Irvine, CA voted to adopt ranked choice voting (RCV). Longmont, CO also passed a measure to adopt RCV this November, and RCV leads in Alaska – where voters were asked whether to keep the system. With this win in Irvine, ranked choice voting has passed in 36 of the last 38 city ballot measures. 

Irvine is home to over 300,000 residents, making it the second-most populous city in Orange County, and one of the 100 most populous cities in the nation. The campaign for RCV was led by Voter Choice Irvine. Voter Choice Irvine Campaign Director Branda Lin said:

Ranked choice voting means voters can vote their conscience every time, without fear of wasting their vote. With RCV in Irvine, voters will have more choice, campaigns will be more positive, and winners will always have majority support. That’s a big difference from our current system, where spoiler candidates and vote-splitting routinely result in candidates winning with only a third of the vote.

In support of the RCV ballot measure, U.S. Representative Dave Min said: 

Our democracy works best when voters have a real voice in who represents them. Ranked choice voting will give Irvine voters more choice and more voice, and make our local democracy stronger.

RCV could be used for Irvine’s mayoral and City Council elections as early as 2028, so long as the reform costs less than a quarter of 1% of the city’s budget. Ranked choice voting is typically inexpensive to implement.

Ranked choice voting has already been adopted in seven other California cities, including San Francisco and Oakland. Golden State voters say they like RCV and find it easy to use. To learn more about RCV in California, visit CalRCV and Californians for Electoral Reform.